Ahmadinejad: We Were Not Supposed to Have a 'Judiciary Dictatorship'

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former president of Iran, sharply criticized the judiciary, deeming it a violator of the constitution and stating that if a 'judiciary dictatorship' was to be established, there would have been no revolution. In an interview published by the Government Spring website, Ahmadinejad criticized the 'lack of independence' of this institution, saying, 'One of the major violations of the judiciary is that it has handed over prisons to security agencies.' A significant portion of this 39-minute interview pertains to the case of Hamid Baghaei, his former deputy. Ahmadinejad criticized the inability to criticize the judiciary, stating that this has led to its current state. He also harshly criticized Sadeq Larijani, the head of the judiciary, asserting that if Baghaei's comments about him are a crime, he would be the first to voice them. He stated, 'If it is a crime, I also say that my children are not spies, my brothers are not brokers, they are not land grabbers, they are not exclusive drug importers, and I have not seized land around Qom to establish a dairy farm. My money does not come from illegal sources, I do not have foreign citizenship, nor do my children or brothers.' During his presidency, Ahmadinejad had also shown a film in parliament of a conversation between Fazel Larijani and Saeed Mortazavi, the then-head of the Social Security Organization, during the impeachment of the Minister of Labor. Earlier reports had also surfaced regarding the arrest of Sadeq Larijani's daughter for 'espionage,' which the Ministry of Intelligence denied. Ahmadinejad blamed the judiciary for handing over prisons to security agencies, stating that currently, part of the prison is under the control of the IRGC's intelligence, another part is under the Ministry of Intelligence, and another part is under the judiciary's protection. Ahmadinejad stated that while the agents (security and law enforcement agencies) should operate under the judiciary, the current situation is such that the judiciary arrests and hands over the accused to the agents. He recalled Baghaei's statements during his imprisonment, saying that the judiciary's spokesperson and prosecutor claimed they had asked the Ministry of Intelligence and were told that his condition in prison was good. Referring to the statements of Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the judiciary's spokesperson, who said that Baghaei was in a suite, he remarked, 'God willing, the judiciary officials will have the opportunity to live in these suites without servants... so they understand what is happening.' According to Ahmadinejad, the existence of the judiciary is to defend the people against agencies and security institutions. However, he deemed the actions of the judiciary as 'crimes' and 'major violations,' stating that this trend has now become 'normal.' Some of Ahmadinejad's critics question why he remained silent during his presidency regarding the actions of the judiciary and the crackdowns of 2009. Saeed Mortazavi, a key figure in the Zahra Kazemi case and the Kahrizak detention center, was appointed by Ahmadinejad as the head of the Social Security Organization at his insistence. Ahmadinejad himself referred to the election protesters as 'debris' in a speech in Imam Vali Asr Square. Ismail Ahmadi Moghadam, the then-commander of the police force in 2009, stated in an interview that Ahmadinejad had called for the arrest and confrontation with protesters. According to Ahmadi Moghadam, Ahmadinejad had said in 2009, 'It was good. We shook the circle and the extras and debris came out. Confront them and gather them all up. Go arrest Khatami and the others and reduce the trouble.' The then-police commander responded, 'What are you saying? You go for interviews and speeches and call them debris and trash. Now everyone is in the streets and there is a crisis, and it cannot be resolved this easily, and now you say to arrest them and that’s it?' In the continuation of his interview published on Friday, Ahmadinejad deemed the seven-and-a-half-month detention of Hamid Baghaei illegal and called the charges against him fabricated. He accused the judiciary of being both the plaintiff and the judge in this case. Ahmadinejad emphasized that the judiciary is not holding Baghaei's trial publicly, contrary to the constitution, justifying these actions under the pretext of fighting corruption. He addressed the judiciary, saying, 'Just because you are in power, does that give you the right to do anything?' He also considered the actions of the judiciary contrary to the ideals of the 1979 revolution, stating, 'If we wanted a judiciary dictatorship, it would have existed before.' The former president mentioned that he had a dispute with Sadeq Larijani over the killing of blogger Sattar Beheshti. He said, 'In the National Security Council regarding Mr. Sattar Beheshti, I almost had a fight with him. I shouted at them. I said, 'You committed a crime. Why did you take the young man and take him away? What is this situation?' According to Ahmadinejad, the judiciary wants to take over all affairs, including the powers of the executive branch, which he stated is the same approach as 'tyrants' and 'dictators.' Hamid Baghaei was arrested in 2015 on financial charges, and after that, Ahmadinejad's associates reported that he was released on the orders of the Supreme Leader. He was also arrested in July this year and released on a bail of 20 billion tomans. Baghaei, along with Ahmadinejad, had registered for the presidential elections in 2017, but the Guardian Council rejected both of their qualifications. 'Request for a total bonus payment of three hundred million tomans to 16 members of the government,' 'assistance to the International University of Iranians,' 'assistance to the Iranian Home Organization,' 'assistance to the state newspaper Iran,' and 'charges of collusion in contracts and transactions of five companies' are among the accusations against Mr. Baghaei. Meanwhile, according to Fayyaz Shajai, the head of the Court of Audit, Ahmadinejad has seven confirmed and ongoing cases, five of which are related to oil. Nasrin Sotoudeh, a banned lawyer, wrote an open letter to Ahmadinejad following Baghaei's sit-in at the Shah Abdol Azim shrine, stating, 'In those days when people were being sent to show trials en masse for the crime of 'doubt in the elections' without observing the law, and that show was broadcasted on television at night, how did you not see that blatant injustice? All that apparatus was set up to protect you, and you should have been above all those courts of electoral protests.' Mahmoud Sadeghi, a reformist member of parliament, also reacted to Ahmadinejad's complaints about the judiciary, saying, 'Didn’t Mr. Mortazavi, who was one of Ahmadinejad's closest associates, commit such violations, and wasn’t Ahmadinejad unaware of the crimes of Kahrizak?'