Court Session for 12 Defendants Accused of Disrupting Mobile Phone Market Begins

The court session addressing the charges against 12 defendants who imported mobile phones using government-subsidized currency but sold them at free market rates was held on Saturday, September 1st, at the Revolutionary Court. Judge Mohavved, head of the first branch of the special court for recent economic disruptors, is overseeing the case of these 12 defendants. According to the indictment issued for these 12 individuals, they are also CEOs of companies importing mobile phones who used government currency for imports but sold the imported phones at higher prices in the market. The indictment states that the total value of the assets obtained by eight of the defendants amounts to 13 billion tomans. Previously, in this branch, the charges against three defendants in the mobile phone import case had been addressed, with only their final defense remaining. On Sunday, September 4th, the court session for three mobile phone importers named Mohammad Ghaleb Alamdar, Alireza Sanjari, and Sanabad Safarha was held publicly in the first branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Mohavved, where their indictment was read. These three individuals were CEOs of three mobile phone importing companies that received government currency for mobile phone imports but sold the imported phones at higher prices calculated based on the free market exchange rate. Disruption of the economic system through interference in the distribution of mobile phones, resulting in the acquisition of illegal funds and price gouging, as well as invoice fabrication, were among the charges against these three individuals. Previously, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, had published a list of companies that had received government currency for mobile phone imports. On Tuesday, September 6th, the case of 19 currency defendants began, accused of distributing currency outside the legal system, with their financial transactions reported at 2500 billion tomans. The first session of that court was also held in the second branch of the Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Ahmad Zargar, where the indictment of all defendants was read by the prosecutor's representative. Sadegh Larijani, head of the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in late August of this year, wrote a letter to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, requesting the establishment of a special court to address the charges against 'economic corruptors.' The leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran agreed to this request, leading to the establishment of special economic courts. These courts expedite the examination of the charges against these defendants but simultaneously deprive them of the right to appeal, which contradicts Iranian judicial laws and has faced criticism from legal experts. One day after the leader's order to establish a special court for the trial of 'economic corruptors,' Gholamhossein Mohseni Eje'i, the spokesperson for the Judiciary, announced on Sunday, August 21st, the issuance of indictments for '25 cases' related to these individuals. The issue of corruption in the Islamic Republic of Iran has long been a topic of discussion, with some experts describing this corruption as 'systematic,' although Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has stated that corruption in Iran is case-specific and not systematic.