An Iranian cleric who is a judicial official has said that imprisonment in the Islamic Republic can reduce punishment in your afterlife.

Ali Mozafari, who heads the Judiciary in Iran’s Khorasan-Razavi province declared that being imprisoned in the Islamic Republic has “an impact on afterlife”, including “avoiding punishment in hereafter”.

Khorasan-Razavi, in Iran’s northeast is controlled by ultra-conservative clerics, headed by a strong supporter of Supreme Leader of the country.

Mozafari reiterated that if someone went to prison in the era of monarchy in Iran, it would not help reduce punishment in afterlife.

Iran's religiously conservative and politically hardliner judiciary is controlled by Shiite clerics, who wield tremendous influence over 82 million Iranians.

International rights organizations, United Nations bodies and Western governments have repeatedly condemned lack of due process, torture and other violations in Iran's judicial system.