Ahmadinejad: There is No Authority to Address Complaints Against State Media and Judiciary

The office of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the disqualified candidate for the elections, criticized the performance of the state media (IRIB) in a statement on Tuesday, May 5, stating that there is no authority to address complaints against this institution and the judiciary. The former president's office has demanded that if there are 'accusations, defamation, and dissemination of lies' by presidential candidates against Ahmadinejad's government, the same amount of time should be given for the former government to respond. The statement emphasized that this demand is not 'a request or plea' but 'a reminder of a right and one of the fundamental rights of the nation that rulers are obligated and committed to protect.' Ahmadinejad's office also accused the state media of providing 'thousands of hours of free platforms for sworn opponents' of the previous government since 2011, who have made 'hundreds of accusations and defamations' against Ahmadinejad and his close associates by disseminating false statistics and news. The statement recalled the words of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, who stated that he only appoints the head of the state media and has 'no interference in the affairs' of this organization. Ahmadinejad's office noted that it is unclear where those attacked in state media programs should file complaints. The statement also emphasized that the judiciary is not 'a safe authority for addressing matters' and that 'there is no authority to address the violations of that judiciary either.' In conclusion, he called for 'correct and fair behavior' from the state media so that the credibility of this media does not become further tarnished and does not degrade to the level of a news site affiliated with a minor party. Ahmadinejad's criticisms of the Iranian judiciary come at a time when critics of the previous government have previously criticized the judiciary for not addressing the 'violations' of the former president and complaints from institutions like the parliament against him. Gholamhossein Mohseni Eje'i, the judiciary spokesman, recently announced that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's case has not yet led to a verdict and that until a 'date is set for it,' it cannot be said when the court will convene. Ahmadinejad's case has been open in the Tehran Criminal Court for several years, and the newspaper 'Shargh' had previously reported the existence of '23 complaints' against him, including complaints from the parliament. The first session of the former president's court was held on December 5, 2013, in Branch 76 of the Tehran Criminal Court, without his or his lawyer's presence, ultimately leading the judge to order a rescheduling. Shortly after Hassan Rouhani's victory in the 2013 presidential election, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was summoned to court, but the judiciary spokesman called the summons 'bad taste' and stated that the judiciary officials were unaware of this matter. Previously, Ali Larijani, the parliament speaker, had also accused Ahmadinejad of pressuring the judiciary to prevent the investigation of financial corruption cases involving his close associates. With the rise of Hassan Rouhani's government, several managers from the ninth and tenth governments, including Mohammad Reza Rahimi, Ahmadinejad's first vice president, were sentenced to prison for economic corruption. Hamid Baqaei, Ahmadinejad's executive assistant during his presidency, was also arrested in June 2015 on charges of 'embezzlement' and was released in December of the same year. Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, the Attorney General of the country, on April 23, indirectly responded to the protests against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech in Ahvaz, promising that 'the time' to address these remarks would come and 'this sore (dirty point) must be addressed, so we can deal with them too.' The criticisms from Ahmadinejad's office against the Iranian state media come at a time when individuals close to Hassan Rouhani's government have repeatedly stated that this organization 'destroys' the eleventh government but has supported the actions of the previous government and produced many programs to promote it. In 2009, after Ahmadinejad accused the children of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Ali Akbar Nategh Nouri, the state media did not provide these individuals an opportunity to defend themselves. However, Ahmadinejad, in addition to the time allocated for candidates, appeared in a special television program to respond to accusations from Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, two candidates against him. Ahmadinejad's office, however, claimed in its statement on Tuesday that the state media in the 2009 elections 'fully covered all claims, actions, and defamations of rivals and opponents and broadcast them in their own voices.' The Guardian Council rejected the qualifications of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hamid Baqaei, his deputy in the tenth government. On Tuesday, Ahmadinejad traveled to Mashhad and attended the shrine of the eighth Shiite Imam. Websites close to the former president of Iran, including 'Dolat Bahar,' published videos indicating that the agents of the Astan Quds Razavi prevented people from shaking hands and speaking with Ahmadinejad and from filming and photographing his presence. In one of these videos, Ahmadinejad gets into a verbal altercation with the agents of Astan Quds.