The L.A. Times airs the debate of what has become of the former prosecutor in Iran’s show trials:
“When he was Tehran public prosecutor he could only issue arrest warrants for people in Tehran,” said Khalil Bahramian, a human rights lawyer in the capital. “Now he can do the same nationwide.”
Not so fast, say Saleh Nikbakht and Mohammad-Hossein Aghassi, two Iranian trial lawyers who for years have been fighting for human rights in Iran’s legal trenches.
“From a bureaucratic and formal angle it seems like a promotion,” said Aghassi, who defended Radio Farda journalist Parnaz Azima when she was charged with committing crimes against national security in 2007.
“But in terms of the power to issue arrest warrants or issue verdict or sue anyone, it is a demotion because he has been stripped of all powers he had enjoyed,” he said.
Mortazavi gained infamy as head of a press court that shuttered dozens of newspapers. As public prosecutor in Tehran he went after dissidents and journalists with zeal. He earned international infamy in his alleged role behind the murder of photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, a dual Iranian Canadian national, and its subsequent coverrup.
His new post, Aghassi said, gives him protection from future prosecution for his actions as Tehran prosecutor.
Nikbakht, one of the two lawyers who defended Iranian American journalist Roxana Saberi, called the “promotion” the “worst treatment he could receive” because he loses the power to order an arrest or a halt to political activities.
“In his new position he is one of six deputies for prosecutor-general Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei,” said Nikbakht. “Mortazavi, with his notorious background, will be seemingly equal to other fellow deputies…For sure his authority and power have been diminished almost to zero, nothing … because he cannot make any judiciary decision.”
Mortazavi will be under the thumb of Mohseni-Ejei, a prominent conservative and former intelligence minister who emerged as an enemy of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s clique when he opposed the ongoing Tehran trials against dissidents and declined to link the recent unrest in Iran to a foreign plot.
According to semi-official Mehr News, Sadegh Larijani has announced he will free some of the prisoners and punish people responsible for abuses at the Kahrizak prisons. He made in these remarks in a meeting with MP Kazem Jalili:
The Speaker of the Special Committee told Mehr News about his meeting with Larijani, saying, “Ayatollah Larijani alluded to the necessity to immediately free some prisoners and punish the agents of the [offenses] at Kahrizak and the dormitories, and that judgments or indictments relating to the post-election events must be accurately based on judicial regulations.
Larijani has made good on part of his promises by freeing a major Mousavi ally and a Principlist cleric that supported him, as we reported below. It remains to be seen if Larijani plans to engage in a full-blown offensive against the actions of the IRGC and the Shahroudi-era Judiciary, or if these are token attempts to restore legitimacy in the Islamic judiciary.
New information is emerging about another victim of the Basij’s post-election violence. Saeedeh Pouraghaei was arrested because of her chants of Allahu-Akbar on the roof of her house in Dowlat Ave, in north of Tehran. Saeedeh was the only child of Abbas Pouraghaei who died two years ago of injuries sustained during the Iran-Iraq war. Saeedeh was arrested by the plain-clothed agents, and about 2o days after her arrest her mother was summoned to identify her body. Saeedeh’s mother says that the body was partially burned, and she recognized her daughter with difficulty. She was asked to announce “kidney failure” as the cause of death. According the Saeedeh’s family it seems that the body was intentionally burned to hide the evidence of rape and torture. Her body was not even handed over to her family, and they were just notified that she was secretly buried in Behesht Zahra cemetery in one of the unknown graves in section 309. Mir Hossein Mousavi attended Saeedeh’s funeral ceremony on Saturday in a mosque in Dowlat Ave.
Iran’s senior clergy are deeply divided about what an Islamic government means and how it should treat its citizens. Brtain’s The Guardian published an article by Massoumeh Torfeh, an Iranian author, in this regard:
As the second act of the post-electoral drama unfolds in Iran, internal weaknesses are exposed more clearly than ever before. Behind the facade of victory lie deep divisions among the top clergy about what an Islamic government should be composed of and how it should treat its citizens.
Ayatollah Ali Montazeri – who is not a state official but has great religious authority in Iran – addressed “top officials” directly when he wrote: “At least have the courage to admit this is neither an Islamic state nor a republic.”
The former head of Iran’s judiciary, Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, addresses the head of the powerful expediency council: “Mr Rafsanjani, you did not perform your Islamic or revolutionary duties.” Ayatollah Mojtahed Shabestary, an influential conservative cleric, says in the Friday prayers in the north-western city of Tabriz: “People are awaiting the trials of the leaders of the riots and if they do not repent they must receive the harshest punishment.” Clearly the Islamic daggers are no longer hidden. Behind the long black cloak the second act shows the clergy in full fighting spirit, and thus reveals a regime falling apart from within.
It is seen as a regime that is happy to lie and deceive, to detain and torture, to threaten to kill to get false confessions, and to do all that in the name of Islam. Ayatollah Mehdi Karoubi, who was a presidential candidate, speaks directly of show trials, torture and rape of the detainees in prisons. He demands an investigation and threatens to bring witnesses to give evidence, but his accusations have been rejected. Former president Khatami rejects all accusations, saying they had made a mockery of Islamic justice. Rafsanjani calls for “rational” thinking.
But most symbolically, the regime’s weakness was revealed in its treatment of Saeed Hajarian – the main strategist of the reform movement. Hajarian who survived an assassination attempt in 2000, is partially paralysed, confined to a wheelchair and unable to speak. Despite that the regime fears him. He was made to confess that he was the mastermind of the post-electoral rallies. Someone else read out his statement in court because he is unable to speak.
Montazeri is right to say this is neither an Islamic state nor a republic. But then it was Ayatollah Montazeri who designed the Islamic Republic’s political structure that called for the full power of the supreme leader, thereby automatically contradicting the idea of a republic. Those contradictions ignored 30 years ago will increasingly reveal themselves in the months ahead.
Hamzeh Ghalebi, one of Mousavi’s allies since his days as Prime Minister, has just been released from prison. He was forced to make a public confession in the August 25 court trial. More from the Majles Reformists’ news service Parleman News:
The President of Mousavi’s Youth Organization Hamzeh Ghalebi has been freed just hours ago.
He was one of the members of the Islamic Iran Participation Front and is very close to Mir Hossein Mousavi. He had a fundamental role in Mousavi’s campaign to be elected Prime Minister [in 1980], specifically in garnering the support of Imam Khomeini.
Nearly 70 days ago he was arrested, and he was under great pressure to make a public confession alongside Sohrab Tabatabaie and Mohammad Reza Jalalipour on August 25. But ultimately he did not do so.
Ghalebi was one of the well-known religious Reformists who was arrested and was brought before the courts in last week’s trial for public indictment, but he was not indicted on any charges on Tuesday.
According to Parleman News, the coroner’s office of Tehran officially announced on Monday that Mohsen Roholamini did not die because of “sickness.” Roholamini is the son of conservative pro-Mohsen Rezaei figure Abdolhossein Roholamini. He was arrested in the post-election protests and was killed in Kahrizak prison. Official reports had said that he died of meningitis.
Today’s reports say that the results of forensic investigations place the cause of death for Mohsen Roholamini as physical stress, poor prison conditions, several blows to the body and blows to the head by a hard object.
The coroner’s office strongly rejected the official claims of meningitis as the cause of death.
The Majlis will hold a confidence vote on Wednesday, but correspondents say the president is struggling to win backing in the predominantly conservative body. The latest objections by MPs have been leveled at his choice for education minister, one of three women nominees.
Education Minister-designate Sousan Keshavarz presented her case in the 290-member Majlis, promising to privatize public schools and raise teachers’ salaries. She also stressed her Islamic revolutionary credentials. “I have grown up in a family which appreciates (Islamic) values and took part in religious events as well as in rallies against the shah’s government… and have been a member of the women’s Basij,” she said in a speech quoted by AFP. The Basij is the volunteer Islamic militia which has spearheaded a crackdown on opposition protests. The influential education commission chairman, conservative Ali Abbaspour, said if Ms Keshavarz’s nomination was passed she would have to be impeached. “She has only a year’s experience… and is talking of the same programs outlined by previous ministers. The president has to nominate a strong minister,” he was quoted as saying.
Mr Ahmadinejad’s other two women nominees, Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi and Fatemeh Ajorlou, are among 14 cabinet hopefuls who lack ministerial experience.The cabinet needs approval from more than 50% of sitting MPs. The 220-member conservative bloc constitutes an overwhelming majority in the Majlis.
Iranian press reports described the exchanges between Mr Ahmadinejad and leading conservatives on the first day of the debate on Sunday as unprecedented. Mr Ahmadinejad defended his government as the “cleanest” possible. He rejected accusations that he had simply chosen ministers who would be obedient “yes-men”.
Conservatives and reformers alike accused him [Ahmadinejad] of nominating unqualified people without consulting MPs. The defence minister-designate, Ahmad Vahidi, is wanted by Interpol in connection with a 1994 bombing in Argentina that killed 85 people, although some observers said that might bolster his support among hardliners in defiance of international pressure on Iran.
According to Tabnak, Dr. Mohammad Zabihi was arrested about two weeks ago but the local media has been silent about the news.
Tabnak reported that Dr. Mohammad Zabihi is the President of Tarbiat Modares University in Qom where Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, Iran’s Judiciary chief teaches. The university in Qom is one of the main universities in this city which has close relation with the Qom seminary (howzeh). Dr. Zabihi is also the Chief Editor of the Philosophy-Theology Research quarterly.
Update: According to ParlemanNews, Dr. Mohammad Zabihi, manager of Mousavi’s Principlalist supporters’ campaign and President of Tarbiat Modares Univeristy in Qom, was released on bail but his son is still in detention. His arrest was very high profile since he is a cleric, and also the new head of the Judiciary is a faculty member of Qom University. Also Dr. Soleimani a member of the Assembly of Qom Seminary Teachers was also released from prison.
Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, Iran’s Judiciary chief appointed a three-member committee to examine Karroubi’s letter on the abuse of prisoners in Iran’s jails. According to Mehr News Agency:
Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani has ordered the 3-man committee on Saturday to study Mehdi Karroubi’s recent letter to him on the abuse of some prisoners detained in the post-election unrest.
In a decree issued on Saturday, the Judiciary chief appointed Deputy Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raeesi, National Prosecutor General Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, and Judiciary adviser Ali Khalafi to serve on a panel tasked with investigating the post-election incidents that occurred at the University of Tehran dormitory and certain detention centers. Larijani ordered the committee to examine all the points in Karroubi’s letter and report its findings.
According to Zahra Rahnavard’s Facebook page, Mousavi, Khatami, and Karroubi were forced to call off their Iftar ceremony because of crowds gathering outside the Amir Almomenin Mosque in Tehran. Iftar refers to the evening meal when Muslims break their fast during the holy month of Ramadan. The video shows small crowds chanting “Ya Hossein! Mir Hossein!” and “Coup d’etat govenment, resign! Resign!”
According to BBC Persian, Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, Iran’s Judiciary Chief, appointed Abbas Ja’fari Dolat Abadi, former Judiciary Chief in Khuzestan province, as the new Tehran’s prosecutor-general. Saeed Mortazavi, Tehran’s former prosecutor-general, is known for his harsh confrontation with the Reformist Media and activists in Iran including Etemad Melli (National Confidence) paper that was shut down about two weeks ago, after it published a story claiming that those arrested during Iran’s post election violence had suffered severe physical and mental damage from rapes in detention centers.
Ahmad Tavakkoli, a senior conservative Iranian lawmaker, said Mortazavi should be tried for “illegally” closing a Etemad Melli. “I urge you to reopen the Etemad Melli newspaper and to send the case of Tehran’s prosecutor-general to the judiciary court,” he said.
Update: Press TV is now reporting that Mortazavi has been appointed to the deputy state prosecutor position.
We have unconfirmed reports that Ahmadinejad “lobbyists” resorted to buying a lavish dinner for Members of Parliament at a luxury hotel for Iftar dinner last night. They were trying to shore up support for Ahmadinejad’s Cabinet picks. Here is Ayande News‘ report:
A number of “vote brokers” have recently discovered a new method of bringing about the votes of Majles Representatives.
In luxury hotels of Tehran, by inviting members of Majles and members of Ahmadinejad’s proposed Cabinet, the “vote brokers” have found a new opportunity for lobbying and brokering extensively for votes.
200 guests were present, amongst them a number of Ahmadinejad’s proposed Cabinet ministers and a number of MPs.
In this Iftar dinner ceremony, where the costs totaled approximately $4 million Iranian toman, vote brokers were lobbying between proposed Ministers and members of Majles, and through making various promises to the MPs they were preparing the situation for obtaining those MPs’ votes for the Cabinet members.
It is said that a government bank picked up the costs of this particular Shah-like dinner celebration.
Ahmadinejad’s Cabinet picks have run into considerable opposition even amongst his own support base. Earlier today, Khabar Online reported that members of a core pro-Ahmadinejad group in Majles said they would reject all 3 of Ahmadinejad’s female MPs, which would ensure the 3 female Ministers wouldn’t get a vote of confidence.
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