Iranian dissident academic Hashem Aghajari was expected to be freed on bail later Saturday after nearly two years behind bars for questioning the Islamic republic's powerful Shiite Muslim clergy.
Aghajari's lawyer Saleh Nikbakht told AFP that the family, friends and supporters of the war veteran - who has spent much of his time in jail on death row and in solitary confinement - had managed to come up with a hefty bail of 970 million rials (112,000 dollars).
"A friend of Mr. Aghajari provided the deeds to his house. More than 160 people had expressed their willingness and readiness to give," Nikbakht said.
"It is a relief," said Aghajari's wife. "People have been very kind to us. That shows people are reacting to the system by being kind to political prisoners, something that you would never have seen at begin of the revolution 25 years ago."
Iran's right-wing judiciary is allowing him out on bail pending his appeal of a five-year jail sentence. The dissident will not be allowed to speak to the press once he leave Tehran's Evin prison, family members said.
Aghajari, who lost a leg fighting in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, drew the wrath of powerful hard-liners in 2002 when he said in a speech that Muslims were not "monkeys" and "should not blindly follow" religious leaders.
The speech was initially seen as blasphemy and apostasy, challenging some of the fundamental dogmas of the Islamic republic, and in his first trial he was sentenced to death.
After the verdict sparked widespread protests, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei intervened and ordered a re-trial, during which Aghajari was again sentenced to death. A second re-trial earlier this month saw the hard-line judiciary drop the death penalty.
The leftist scholar was instead convicted of "insulting religious sanctities", "propagating against the regime" and "spreading false information to disturb the public mind".
He was sentenced to a five-year jail term, two of which were suspended, as well as five years of "deprivation of social rights" to commence when he is released from jail.