Deputy of Shiraz University: The Court Has Issued the Harshest Sentence Against Me

Two days after Ali Motahari criticized the court's ruling regarding the attack on him and filed a new complaint against the 'commanders' of this incident, the deputy of Shiraz University also protested this ruling, stating that the court issued the 'harshest sentence' of this case 'against the evidence' for him. Ali Akbar Safavi, in an interview with the Thursday, January 7 issue of Shargh newspaper, announced that he had no role in issuing the permit for Ali Motahari's speech at Shiraz University, and that the supervisory board for student organizations issued the permit for Mr. Motahari's speech. He stated that nevertheless, the court has sentenced him as the second defendant in this case to 'dismissal from public service' 'completely and not conditionally'. According to Mr. Safavi, the first defendant in this case is the president of Shiraz University, the third defendant is the secretary of the student organization that invited Mr. Motahari, and the subsequent defendants are the attackers of Mr. Motahari. He emphasized that the number of attackers on Mr. Motahari is 'much more' than the eight individuals recognized as defendants in this case. The court sentenced six of the attackers to two years in prison and 10 lashes 'suspended', and two other attackers to four and a half months in prison and 37 lashes 'suspended', with these sentences suspended for two years and one year. In 'suspended' sentences, if the defendant is not convicted of a similar crime within the period set by the court, the issued sentence will not be executed. The issuance of these sentences for the attackers on Mr. Motahari comes while the deputy of Shiraz University is sentenced to dismissal from public service as a 'punitive measure', and the student who invited Mr. Motahari is also fined one million tomans for 'aiding in refusing university orders and laws... and facilitating the speech'. 'Punitive' sentences will be executed if confirmed in subsequent judicial stages. The president of Shiraz University has also been sentenced to dismissal from public service conditionally. Ali Motahari, on Tuesday, while protesting the court's ruling, stated that he would not request a retrial but would file a complaint against the 'commanders' of the attack on him. Mr. Motahari had previously implicitly identified some of his attackers as being affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Meanwhile, the deputy of Shiraz University also stated that the CCTV cameras have identified the attackers on Mr. Motahari, and it is clear which organization they belong to. He also compared the incident of the attack on Mr. Motahari to the attack on the Saudi Arabian embassy, adding: 'These individuals have also been completely identified... it is the same type of individuals who attack members of parliament; it is the same type of individuals who attack embassies.' Mr. Safavi also reported that the complaint against the managers of Shiraz University was filed by the prosecutor's office in 'coordination' with the Shiraz governorate. He referred to a 'recommendation' letter from the Shiraz governorate for the non-holding of Mr. Motahari's speech, stating that Shiraz University had informed the 'decision-making authorities of the province' in a letter that it could not implement this recommendation and requested them to ensure Mr. Motahari's security in Shiraz, but 'they did not respond to this letter'. Mr. Motahari and his lawyer had also previously announced that they had no complaints against the officials of Shiraz University, and the security council of Shiraz had not issued a resolution prohibiting Mr. Motahari's speech. Ali Motahari traveled to Shiraz on March 9, 2015, to speak at Shiraz University, where he was 'attacked and beaten by plainclothes forces' at the airport and was ultimately forced to return to Tehran. Shortly after this incident, Mohammad Ahmadi, the governor of Fars, announced that he had resigned to participate in the parliamentary elections, but the media linked his resignation to the attack on Mr. Motahari. In this context, the court issued a suspended sentence for the attackers on Ali Motahari in Shiraz. The fourth court session regarding the attack on Ali Motahari in Shiraz will be held on November 10.