Ahmad Montazeri: They Demand the Delivery of My Father's Documents and Files

Ahmad Montazeri described his 21-year prison sentence as "illogical" and "irrelevant," stating that the purpose of this sentence is to pressure him into handing over unpublished documents and audio files of Ayatollah Montazeri to security agencies. The son of Ayatollah Montazeri said in an interview with Radio Farda on Tuesday, December 9, that the ruling against him had no relation to the atmosphere of the court, and given the court's environment, the actual ruling "could only have been something other than acquittal." He pointed out that the judge had accepted his arguments, adding that "the judge could not have issued such a ruling unless it was issued in his name or dictated to him." Ahmad Montazeri stated that the Special Clerical Court labeled the secrets of the audio file of Ayatollah Montazeri's meeting with the decision-making committee regarding the execution of political prisoners in 1988 as "disclosure of state secrets," while the content of this meeting had previously been published in Ayatollah Montazeri's memoirs. According to Mr. Montazeri, the Special Clerical Court believes that since Ayatollah Montazeri's memoirs were published "illegally," it cannot be said that the content of this meeting had been published before, and therefore its publication was "disclosure of state secrets." He added: "If they say they executed God's ruling, why is its publication a state secret?" Ahmad Montazeri also mentioned that the heavy sentence against him was aimed at forcing the Montazeri family to hand over unpublished documents and audio files of his father to security agencies. He stated that during interrogations, he was told that the Montazeri family "is not qualified to keep these documents." He said that if these documents are handed over to the institutions of the Islamic Republic, they will be destroyed. Ahmad Montazeri also announced that he intends to submit his request for a review of this ruling to the Special Clerical Court in protest. Ahmad Montazeri was sentenced to 21 years in prison for publishing an audio file of Ayatollah Montazeri regarding the executions of 1988, but due to the aggregation of sentences, six years of this sentence will be executed. The son of Ayatollah Montazeri was sentenced to 10 years in prison for "acting against national security," 10 years for publishing a "classified" audio file, and one year for "propaganda against the regime." On August 20, the website of Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, the dismissed deputy of Ayatollah Khomeini, published an audio file from him related to August 24, 1988, in which this Shia authority refers to the executions of that year in Iran as "the greatest crime of the Islamic Republic." In this audio file, Ayatollah Montazeri describes the summer executions of 1988 as "the greatest crime of the Islamic Republic" and states that history will condemn us for this crime. Ayatollah Montazeri calls the judicial officials present at the meeting responsible for these executions and "criminals." The judicial officials present at this meeting included Hossein Ali Niri, the then Islamic judge, Morteza Eshraqi, the then prosecutor of Tehran, Ebrahim Raisi, the then deputy prosecutor, and Mostafa Pourmohammadi, the representative of the Ministry of Intelligence at Evin Prison at that time. The publication of this audio file faced reactions and criticism from several officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Among those who criticized the publication of Ayatollah Montazeri's statements about the 1988 executions were Sadegh Amoli Larijani, the head of the judiciary, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the head of the Expediency Discernment Council, Ahmad Alamolhoda, the Friday prayer leader of Mashhad, Mohammad Mohammadi Rishahri, the former Minister of Intelligence, and Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, the Attorney General of Iran. Officials of the Islamic Republic have rarely spoken about the mass execution of political and ideological prisoners in the summer of 1988. Most of the executed prisoners that year were members of groups such as the People's Mujahedin of Iran, the Tudeh Party, Fedayeen, and other leftist groups who had previously been tried and were serving their prison sentences. The exact names and numbers of those executed in 1988, many of whom were buried anonymously in the Khavaran cemetery, are still not fully known. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights has reported the number to be at least 1,879, while Ayatollah Montazeri, emphasizing that he does not remember the exact number, stated it to be between 2,800 and 3,800. However, groups such as the People's Mujahedin have reported the number of those executed to be much higher.