Consequences of Land Grabbing; Social Media Users Demand Judicial Action Against Kazem Sedighi

Social media users, following a statement from the Imam Khomeini Seminary emphasizing that the transfer of the Ozgol garden land deed occurred with the presence and signature of Kazem Sedighi at the notary office, have called for judicial action against the temporary Friday prayer leader of Tehran. Mohsen Barahani, a lawyer, wrote in his Telegram channel titled "The Smell of Cover-Up" that regret, even moments after committing a crime, has no effect on the realization of the crime. The crime of transferring someone else's property has been completed. This lawyer emphasized that claiming to be in the process of returning the property months after the crime and after exposure does not affect the crime. He added, "If the return had actually taken place, it could have been considered a mitigating factor for punishment." Mr. Barahani noted that the main crime occurred in the transfer of 4,200 square meters of land, and Kazem Sedighi, as the custodian of the school, transferred the school's property to an institution. Accordingly, he pointed out, "We all remember that an actor was arrested for a story or a citizen for a tweet, without any summons," and emphasized, "Public opinion is intensely following what the Tehran prosecutor or the special prosecutor for the clergy will do." Sina Jahani also wrote on his account on the social media platform "X" that more dimensions of this land grabbing are being published every day, while no voice is heard from any institution, whereas Mehdi Yarahee was arrested for releasing a song like a terrorist. Milad Alavi, a journalist, also wrote on X that the seminary's statement emphasizes "taking someone else's property" and this is a "case of fraud," and "the silence of the prosecutor violates the impartiality of the judiciary and mocks the law." Additionally, Ali Mojtahedzadeh, a lawyer, reacted to the seminary's statement and emphasized Kazem Sedighi's role in the land grabbing case in his Telegram channel, stating that the Imam Khomeini Seminary announced that Kazem Sedighi "personally signed the property transfer deed, how long will the inaction of the judicial authorities continue?" According to this lawyer, Kazem Sedighi "has harmed the religion and the trust of the nation more than those girls who became Haji Firouz? Is his crime heavier than that of unveiled women?" This lawyer also raised the question of why such judicial severity does not apply to people like him. In contrast, Mohsen Mansouri, the executive assistant to Ebrahim Raisi, described the news about Kazem Sedighi as "an unfair defamation of a revolutionary figure" and stated, "Ayatollah Sedighi is one of the revolutionary clerics of our time who has only thought of serving the people in multiple responsibilities." The support of Raisi's assistant for Sedighi comes at a time when the issue of his and his family's "land grabbing" is still under scrutiny by domestic media and facing severe criticism from social media users. The news website "Asr Iran" referred to a conversation between the Friday prayer leader of Tehran and a government television reporter, where he claimed his signature was forged for the transfer of the 4,000-square-meter garden deed in his name, stating: "Mr. Sedighi, now that you have spoken to the state TV reporter, answer the questions of other media as well. Who was the person who went to the notary office at 10:30 AM on December 19, 2023, and signed the transfer deed of the garden to the institution?" This media also asked the Friday prayer leader of Tehran: "You accused the news disseminators about yourself of being malicious and attempting to undermine the beliefs of the people and damage the image of their trusted figures. At the same time, regarding the accusation against you, you said that they have accused you without a court ruling. How do you accuse others without a court condemning them, but when it comes to yourself, you say there is no ruling?" Kazem Sedighi's name came to prominence after Yashar Soltani, a journalist, revealed the land grabbing case at the "Imam Khomeini Seminary" on March 14, stating that the ownership of the 4,200-square-meter garden, valued at approximately "1 trillion tomans," was transferred to a company owned by Kazem Sedighi and his relatives. In response to the exposure of the 1 trillion toman land grabbing case involving himself and his sons, Kazem Sedighi initially claimed that his signature was forged. A few days later, in an interview with a state TV reporter, he referred to this issue as "an enemy-pleasing malice" and claimed that the aim of these "disturbances" and exposures was to disbelieve the people. Following Kazem Sedighi's claim of "forgery of his signature," the Imam Khomeini Seminary confirmed in a statement that the transfer of the Ozgol garden land deed to Kazem Sedighi and his sons "was carried out by Sedighi himself in the presence of a notary" and emphasized that upon learning of the violations, "an order was issued to return the land to the seminary." Senior clerics of the Islamic Republic are under accusation of land grabbing; this time it is Kazem Sedighi. Sedighi called the exposure of his and his family's "land grabbing" a "malice pleasing to the enemy." Sedighi's reaction to the exposure of the 1 trillion toman land grabbing case: My signature was forged. The exposure of the 1 trillion toman land grabbing case of the Friday prayer leader of Tehran: Transfer of the 4,200-square-meter garden to the company of Kazem Sedighi and his sons.