Baghaei and Khorasani Filed a Complaint Against Their Case Judge

Simultaneously with the presence of Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, the head of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's office during his presidency, in the prosecutor's office, Hamid Baghaei and Habibollah Khorasani, two other managers from Ahmadinejad's administration, filed a complaint against their case judge with the Judicial Disciplinary Court. According to the government website, on Tuesday, November 20, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei was released on bail after attending the fourth branch of the Culture and Media Prosecutor's Office and undergoing interrogation. The next interrogation session will be held next Saturday. The former president's office head was summoned to the prosecutor's office on charges of 'insulting' the leadership, 'illegal appropriation of state property, insulting state officials, and spreading falsehoods.' On Tuesday, Hamid Baghaei, the executive deputy, and Habibollah Khorasani, the financial officer of the presidency during Ahmadinejad's government, accused Nasratollah Heydari, the head of Branch 1057 of the Tehran Criminal Court, of ignoring 'important, fundamental, and obvious flaws' in the indictment issued by the prosecutor's office and proceeding with the case. Based on a published image of this complaint on the government website, Mr. Heydari had 'confirmed the existence of flaws' in the indictment during the first court session, but in the second session, he began substantive proceedings without regard to his own opinion and did not return the indictment to the prosecutor's office. According to Article 341 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, if a judge deems the prosecutor's investigations incomplete, he can return the case to the prosecutor's office for further investigation. These two managers also accused their case judge of holding a completely illegal closed court, while the issues discussed in court are all financial and none are 'indicative of public decency or national security violations.' This complaint emphasizes that according to Article 140 of the Constitution, the trial of a vice president must be conducted with the knowledge of the parliament, which necessitates the public nature of the court. According to Article 165 of the Constitution, trials are held publicly, and the presence of individuals is permitted unless the court determines that public proceedings would violate public decency or order, or in private disputes, the parties request that the trial not be public. Additionally, according to Article 140 of the Constitution, the investigation of charges against the president and his deputies and ministers regarding ordinary crimes is conducted in public courts with the knowledge of the Islamic Consultative Assembly. Mr. Baghaei had previously called for a public trial. In this context, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former president of Iran, has repeatedly accused judicial officials of 'conspiracy' against him and his associates, and of attempting to politically condemn Hamid Baghaei. 'Embezzlement of several million euros and dollars belonging to a revolutionary institution (the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps),' 'requesting a total of 300 million tomans in bonuses for 16 members of the government,' 'assisting the International University of Iranians,' 'assisting the Iranian House Organization,' 'assisting the state newspaper Iran,' and 'colluding in contracts and transactions of five companies' are among the charges against Mr. Baghaei. However, Mr. Baghaei has denied these charges and stated that these accusations and the evidence in his case are 'illegal.' On Tuesday, November 20, Hamid Baghaei and Habibollah Khorasani also described these accusations as 'baseless' in a letter to their judge and announced that 'clear and valid legal evidence' regarding these accusations 'does not exist' in the case. Hamid Baghaei, Ahmadinejad's deputy during his presidency, on Wednesday, November 15, announced that he would refuse to attend his trial and, along with Ali Akbar Javanfekr, Ahmadinejad's advisor, and Habibollah Khorasani, the former financial officer of the presidency, would stage a sit-in in protest against the judiciary's behavior at the shrine of Abdul Azim Hassani. The government website's Telegram channel reported on Saturday evening, November 18, that organized attacks by plainclothes forces against these three Ahmadinejad administration managers and their supporters occurred at the shrine of Abdul Azim. Following this attack, these three former government managers announced on Sunday, November 19, that due to the 'importance of preserving the sanctity' of the shrine of Abdul Azim, they would end their sit-in.