20 Parliament Representatives Request Public Trial for President's Brother and His Deputy

Twenty members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly have written a letter to the head of the judiciary, calling for a public trial regarding the cases of Hossein Fereydoun, the brother of the President, and Mehdi Jahangiri, the brother of the First Vice President. According to Tasnim News Agency, these parliament members, most of whom are from the Front of Steadfastness, emphasized that 'for the past one and a half years, public opinion has been waiting for a resolution regarding the cases of these two defendants.' The authors of the letter requested that Sadegh Larijani, in the 'final months' of his presidency over the judiciary, 'allow or order' that the cases of these two defendants be 'handled publicly' so that his actions and positions in combating corruption are not perceived as mixed with some considerations in public opinion. Among the signatories of this letter are Javad Karimi Qoddusi, Mohammad Mahdi Zahedi, Mohammad Dehghan, Mohammad Javad Abtahi, Ahmad Amir Abadi, Abolfazl Torabi, Mohammad Hossein Farhangi, and Hossein Ali Shahriari. Gholamhossein Mohseni Eje'i, the judiciary spokesperson, denied reports last month about the closure of Hossein Fereydoun's case, stating that the case is still under investigation and has not been sent to court. On July 25, 2017, Eje'i announced the arrest of Hossein Fereydoun due to 'financial charges.' The next day, it was reported that he was released on a bail of 50 billion tomans. One of the accusations against Hossein Fereydoun involves his connection with Rasoul Daniyalzadeh, who was arrested due to over 2 trillion tomans in debts to banks. The judiciary spokesperson reiterated last month that the case of Hossein Fereydoun is still under investigation. Mehdi Jahangiri, the Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce, was also arrested by the IRGC in Kerman on October 6, 2017, and was released in Esfand of the same year. Mehdi Jahangiri is the head of a financial group established during Hamid Bakhaei's presidency at the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization. He served as the deputy for investment at the same organization during Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei's presidency in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's first term. While conservative parliament members have called for the trial of the brothers of Hassan Rouhani and Eshaq Jahangiri, some reformist figures had previously suggested that an impartial committee investigate the accusations against these two individuals as well as Sadegh Larijani and Fazel Larijani, the two brothers of the judiciary head. Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, the government spokesperson, also stated after the arrest of Hossein Fereydoun that 'this issue should be treated the same way for the head of the judiciary or the legislative body, and the independent judiciary will deal with others as it did with the President's brother.' Fazel Larijani's name came to light in late 2012 when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad publicly played a tape of his conversation with Saeed Mortazavi, the then-head of the Social Security Organization. In this tape, Larijani suggests that Mortazavi use the influence of his brothers in the government in exchange for certain economic advantages. However, the judiciary spokesperson stated last December that no crime had been established against Fazel Larijani in the case of attempting to obtain a bribe from the Social Security Organization. A non-prosecution order was also issued for Mohammad Javad Larijani in the 'land-grabbing' case. The website 'Bamdad News' published several 'confidential' documents on June 17, 2012, indicating the 'occupation of over 342 hectares of national land on the outskirts of Varamin, and the illegal maintenance of over 900 sheep and 200 camels on the occupied lands by Mohammad Javad Larijani.'