Court President Prevented Lawyers of Plaintiffs from Attending

On Saturday, the state news agency IRNA reported from Branch 79 of the Tehran Criminal Court that despite sending invitations, lawyers representing workers who are plaintiffs against Saeed Mortazavi, the former head of the Social Security Organization, were 'prevented' from attending the court session. Mostafa Torkhamdani, one of the plaintiffs' lawyers, confirmed this news, stating that Mojtaba Nazari, a representative of the Social Security Organization, was present at the court session held on Saturday morning, April 24. According to the Iranian Labor News Agency, ILNA, Torkhamdani emphasized, 'Not only was I given the opportunity to study the case today, but I also received an invitation from the court for today.' However, he added, 'It seems that the head of the branch deemed the presence of the plaintiffs' lawyers... inappropriate for today's session; the reason for this decision is still unclear to us.' Following the publication of the parliamentary investigation report on the Social Security Organization on December 4, 2013, which accused Saeed Mortazavi of extensive financial misconduct amounting to billions of tomans, Mostafa Torkhamdani, Alireza Daghighi, and Payman Haj Mahmoud Attar filed a complaint against Mortazavi on behalf of several workers. On Tuesday, April 7, Torkhamdani had reported that Branch 79 of the Tehran Criminal Court had invited him along with other plaintiffs' lawyers and a representative of the Social Security Organization to attend the trial session. After the court session on Saturday, Mortazavi stated that the non-implementation of the Administrative Justice Court's ruling regarding the illegality of his tenure at the Social Security Organization was discussed, and the next court session would be held on Tuesday. In 2012, after a complaint from several members of parliament and the ruling of the Administrative Justice Court, Mortazavi's appointment to the Social Security Fund was declared illegal, leading the government to change the statute and convert the 'Fund' into an 'Organization,' appointing Mortazavi as the caretaker of the Social Security Organization. Meanwhile, in an interview with the Saturday issue of Shargh newspaper, Mortazavi denied the accusation of 'refusal' to comply with the Administrative Justice Court's ruling, stating that after the ruling became final, he was the caretaker of the Social Security Organization. Regarding the accusation of 'acquiring 1 billion and 970 million rials of illegitimate property,' he mentioned that the indictment related to 'refusal' to comply with the Administrative Justice Court's ruling emphasized his received rights during his caretaking period at the Social Security Organization. Additionally, according to ISNA news agency, Mortazavi reported the court president's opposition to holding public sessions for his defenses, adding, 'Until just last week, Mr. Torkhamdani came to court and took notes on the indictment and the order of indictment and published it with double the figures. Now that it is our turn to defend, there is no reason for the court to be non-public.' According to ILNA news agency, Torkhamdani reacted to Mortazavi's statements, saying, 'We had requested this long before Mortazavi, and it was repeatedly denied; probably Mr. Mortazavi was also confident that his request would not be approved, which is why he raised this issue.' He also reported that in the court session, Mortazavi was allowed to enter the court regarding the Kahrizak case, where Mr. Rouh-al-Amini and the relevant lawyers were permitted entry. IRNA had previously reported that Mortazavi's case consists of three parts, the first of which is related to the ruling overturned by the Supreme Court in the Kahrizak case and its referral to an equivalent branch for reconsideration. In the Kahrizak case, the Supreme Court branch confirmed Mortazavi's permanent dismissal from judicial services and a five-year suspension from public services but raised objections to the imposed monetary fine. According to IRNA, Branch 76 of the Tehran Criminal Court had sentenced Mortazavi to pay a fine of 200,000 tomans for 'aiding in the preparation of a false report by ordering or encouraging the relevant officials to prepare a report addressed to himself.' Meanwhile, according to this news agency, the 'minimum' fine mentioned for this accusation against Mortazavi is 20,000 tomans, not 200,000 tomans. Reports indicate that another part of Mortazavi's case is related to the complaint of the heirs of Mohsen Rouh-al-Amini, one of the victims of the Kahrizak detention center incident, on charges of complicity in murder. Mohsen Rouh-al-Amini, Mohammad Kamrani, and Amir Javadi-Far were three young men who were arrested due to their participation in protests following the 2009 presidential election and lost their lives in the Kahrizak detention center due to 'torture and psychological pressure.' In this context, the plaintiffs in Mortazavi's case regarding the Social Security violations demanded his public trial.