Tehran prosecutor arrested

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TEHRAN, May 3 (UPI) -- Prison officials in Tehran said a lawyer suspended for ordering prisoners transferred to a detention facility known for abuse was arrested.

Former Tehran deputy prosecutor Ali Akbar Heydarifard was arrested for "disrupting public order," reports Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. In March, he reportedly fired a pistol at a gasoline station when customers expressed anger at him for cutting in line.

He was detained briefly but released after he revealed his identity to police.

The former prosecutor was dubbed the "Torturer of Tehran" and the "Butcher of the Press" for his legal targeting of reformists journalists in Iran.

He and with former Tehran prosecutor Said Mortazavi were suspended because of allegations they were tied to prisoner abuse at the Kahrizak detention center. At least three detainees reportedly died there as the result of torture, the report says.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamanei ordered the Kahrizak detention center closed in 2009. Mortazavi later was appointed to top government posts with the help of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.