TEHRAN The Iranian cleric Ali Afsahi has been released from Tehran's Evin Prison Monday after serving his jail term, ISNA reported on Tuesday.

The Special Court for Cleric (SCC) had defrocked and jailed Afsahi in January for four months.

Afsahi, who was the publisher of weekly **** Cinema and Sports ****, had been charged with insulting religious values in a speech to cinema critics in Bushehr.

Later on, in an open letter he rejected the court's authority in the case and would not appeal or ask for mercy.

"I will never file an appeal or ask for pardon ... any judgment coming from this court on these issues, even a not-guilty verdict, is an insult."

The SCC has been instrumental in silencing unorthodox members of the clergy, most notably the popular former vice-president Abdollah Nouri who was sentenced to five years in prison in 1999 for religious and political dissent.