Albanian court jails Iranian man for 10 years over terrorism

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Court officials say an Albanian court has convicted an Iranian man on terrorism-related charges and sentenced him to ten years’ imprisonment. In a ruling issued Wednesday but made public a day later, Albania’s Special Court on Corruption and Organized Crime found Bijan Pooladrag guilty of funding terrorism and being a member of a terrorist organization. No details on Pooladrag’s age, home city, or when he had come to Albania were made known. Pooladrag denied the charges. He has the right to appeal Thursday’s verdict. Pooladrag was arrested two years ago on suspicion of spying on members of the Iranian opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, or MEK, some 3,000 of whom live in exile in Albania. Albania’s relations with Iran are tense.