78 Judges Suspended Last Year

The Center for Protection and Information of the Iranian Judiciary reported that 78 judges were suspended last year, marking a 20% increase compared to the previous year. According to ILNA news agency, on Saturday, July 8, this center also announced that last year it dealt with 178 lawyers, 64 experts, and 103 'fixers' and forgers. The Center for Protection and Information did not provide details about these cases, but addressing corruption among judges and staff of the judiciary is one of its responsibilities. Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the spokesman for the judiciary, also stated on June 20 that over 50 judges, employees, lawyers, and experts were 'offenders' and 185 'brokers and fixers' were arrested last year. Meanwhile, Ahmad Tavakoli, a representative from Tehran in the ninth parliament, reported in May of last year the dismissal of 170 judges due to economic corruption, describing this number as indicative of the judiciary's 'entanglement' with corruption. The judiciary has not yet published a report on the details of the corruption cases involving its judges and staff. Meanwhile, members of the investigative committee of the judiciary in the seventh parliament accused several officials and judges of economic corruption. Among these representatives, Saeed Mortazavi, the then-prosecutor of Tehran, was accused of participating in the sale of exam questions for the Islamic Azad University during his tenure. After leaving the judiciary and heading the Social Security Organization under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government, Mortazavi was also accused of economic corruption, receiving a six-month prison sentence for 'illegally obtaining property' and restitution of funds. Additionally, according to the head of the Tehran judiciary, Ali Akbar Heydari Far, one of the judges involved in the Kahrizak case was sentenced to 15 years in prison for 'illegal possession, illegal use of state property, bribery, use of weapons, and involvement in various conflicts.' Last year, the issue of the disclosure of the personal accounts of the head of the judiciary also made headlines. A survey by the 'iPOS' institute published in February 2016 indicated that the Iranian people believe that 'corruption' has 'expanded' in the country, with banks, courts, and municipalities being considered the 'most corrupt' institutions in Iran. According to this survey, after banks, courts and judiciary along with municipalities were viewed by 63% of participants as among the 'most corrupt' institutions in Iran.