Iranian ex-prosecutor dubbed 'torturer of Tehran' sent to prison: reports

A former Iranian prosecutor dubbed the "torturer of Tehran" has been detained by police, months after being sentenced over the death of prisoners following the 2009 protests, Iranian media reported on Sunday.

Saeed Mortazavi was reported arrested by the official website of the judiciary, Mizanonline.com, however no additional details were given.

According to the Tasnim news agency, Mortazavi was detained in a villa in northern Iran, near the Caspian Sea.

In December, Mortazavi was sentenced to prison by an appeals court that found him guilty of "abetting and aiding" torture and the deaths of protesters arrested after the disputed re-election of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Mortazavi could not be found after the court decision. Last week, judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejehi said "they could not find him despite the arrest warrant".

After the reports of his disappearance, activists mocked up "Wanted" posters and displayed them around Tehran.

Mortazavi's wife and lawyer denied he was missing, but said he was looking to appeal the ruling. Mortazavi's lawyer was unable to confirm whether he had been taken into custody, telling the reformist ILNA news agency: "I have no information on this issue."

Mortazavi has also been blamed for the death in custody of Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi in 2003. Reformists accused Mortazavi of trying to stage a cover-up after he reported that Kazemi died of a stroke.

A government committee probing her death later found that she had died of a fractured skull and brain hemorrhage from a blow to the head. No charges were filed against Mortazavi.

Critics describe Mortazavi as the "butcher of the press" and the "torturer of Tehran" after he closed some 120 newspapers and imprisoned journalists and political activists.