Man accused of helping Iran to spy is freed

5:20pm Monday 28th May 2007

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A businessman has cleared his name after being wrongfully accused of illegally exporting a so-called "spy plane" to Iran.

Ali Manzarpour spent nearly two years languishing in a tough Polish jail because the FBI said he had broken American trade laws.

In that time the Brighton entrepreneur lost his business and home. Now he has been freed after proving he had all the proper licences for the plane - really a tiny, two-seater kit plane for enthusiasts with no military interest.

Mr Manzarpour, 46, came to the attention of the American authorities in 2004 when the plane, which he bought on the internet, was shipped to the UK. The shipping firm sent it back to the United States and Mr Manzarpour was informed that the plane would not be returned to him and he was told the file was closed.

But when he visited Poland on business in May 2005 he was taken into custody and found himself facing extradition charges to the States where, if convicted, he faced up to 50 years in jail.

Since then he has been through a £100,000 battle in the Polish courts to fight the extradition and prove he was innocent.

While fighting his case, Mr Manzarpour was not allowed to see evidence against him put forward by the prosecutor. Only two months before his release did he get hold of a paper which showed the licence he held for the plane had been mistranslated to make him appear he did not have proper clearance.

He continued to be held despite that fact that in August 2005, the Department for Trade and Industry and the European Commission Directorate-General for Trade writing to the courts to confirm he had acted legally.

He said: "I am angry that Poland, a member state of the European Union, has betrayed the EU.

"My life is very difficult because I have to start from scratch again."

In Poland, Mr Manzarpour said, it was common for suspects to be beaten about the legs, kicked or gassed using a plastic bag over their head with CS gas sprayed into it by police during interrogation. He escaped torture but was aware of it happening to others.

Iranian-born Mr Manzarpour, who has lived in the UK since the age of 16, said: "I was locked up 23 hours a day in a small cell. For one hour we were allowed to walk in a room that was not much bigger than the cell.

"For about a year I was in a four-man cell, then a three-man cell. There was no access to the telephone - I couldn't phone my lawyers. My letters were censored. It was awful."

Mr Manzarpour and the Polish media have speculated that he was detained as bargaining material against a man Poland wants extradited from the United States. Edward Mazur is suspected of arranging the murder of the Polish chief of police, Marek Papala. He is waiting for the outcome of his extradition hearing.

In 1998 Mr Manzarpour was convicted at Lewes Crown Court of exporting three quarters of a tonne of high-grade steel into Iran and spent four months in Lewes and Ford prison. He said he was deceived by a description of the steel in a catalogue, which said it was of a low enough level not to require an export licence.

Mr Manzarpour, who has a 23-year-old son, said his home in Middle Road, Brighton, was sold just before he was released from prison because his family did not know when he would be freed.

He has also lost the business he spent years building up, Baronmode. He is staying with family, who helped him out during his campaign, along with neighbours. His case was even discussed in a debate in the House of Lords.

The prosecutor is appealing against Mr Manzarpour's release, but the case is expected to be closed.