Does the Clerical Regime Leave Room for Judicial Independence?

On 10/19/1395, Ayatollah Khamenei defended the independence and authority of the judiciary, stating that the enemy - namely the United States, 'wicked England,' etc. - aims to undermine the factors of national power. For this reason, they attack the IRGC, Basij, Guardian Council, judiciary, and leadership. Khamenei said that enemies claim through their media and organizations that their main target is 'this person, for example, Ali Khamenei, but they lie'; their main target is the Islamic Republic system and the institutions that 'stand firm and shield themselves.' Khamenei stated that the destruction of the judiciary is occurring for this reason. However, 'the existence of an independent, brave, and decisive judiciary should be valued by all; everyone should help... we should have a complete powerful judiciary.' An independent judiciary, if it is not a main pillar of a democratic system committed to freedom and human rights, is one of its pillars. The judiciary and courts are not solely for resolving disputes and administering justice. In the modern era, when the powerful institution of the state was invented and gained 'Leviathan' and 'Behemoth' powers, thinkers reached the idea that to protect people from the encroaching and intervening power of the state, an independent judiciary should be constructed. This institution may be the most important bastion for people against the power of the state - meaning the political system. People must be protected from the interference and encroachment of the political regime's power. In this idea, the judiciary is the protective belt for the people, not the guardian of the king and the royal system. Judicial independence is independence from the king, the state, military, and security forces. Does Khamenei defend brave, decisive, and independent judges in this sense? The answer is clearly no. In his view, the judiciary is also part of the leadership institution and serves the king. For this reason, the people and even significant parts of the government have no trust in the judiciary. An independent and powerful judiciary in the Islamic Republic is unattainable. Why? First - Religious government: The separation of religion from the state is a necessary condition for a democratic system committed to freedom and human rights. Khamenei opposes this idea and considers it the enemy's goal and program. He says: 'Today, one of the fundamental recommendations that American and British think tanks are gathering around to think, design, and present, and are teaching to media, internet, political activists, etc., is that they say we must oppose political religion; that is, promote the separation of religion from politics; that is, the separation of religion from life; religion in the corner of the mosque, religion inside the house, religion only in the heart, not in action, where the economy is non-religious, politics is non-religious, yielding to the enemy is non-religious, fighting with friends, siding with enemies - contrary to the text of religion - exists, but the appearance is also religious; this is what they want.' First: The point of contention is the separation of religion from the state, which is possible and desirable. Second: The politicization of religion is neither possible nor desirable. Third: The privatization of religion is neither possible nor desirable. The truth is that Ayatollah Khamenei is the most important and principal opponent of judicial independence. If there were an independent judiciary, the first person to be tried and punished would be Seyyed Ali Khamenei. He is the root and foundation of all corruption and repression of the regime. 'The Ayatollah of Massacre' - Ebrahim Raisi, whose hands are stained with the blood of thousands of political and ideological prisoners from the bloody 1980s - has been appointed by him as the prosecutor of the Special Clerical Court. This is just one of the accusations against Khamenei. Thinkers like Peter Berger, Robert Bellah, José Casanova, Jürgen Habermas, Charles Taylor, etc., have shown that the presence of religion in the public sphere is possible, necessary, and beneficial. Religion can have a presence in the public sphere and participate in public debates, promoting and advocating its values in a reasoned manner and impacting citizens' lives and politics. However, Khamenei says: 'The meaning of a religion being separate from the government is that religion sits and constantly advises, constantly talks, and the powerful can do whatever they want against religion and contrary to religion; whenever they want, they can kick these people; non-political religion means this. This is what they want, this is what they pursue. No, this knowledge must exist that religion is not separate from politics; and the enemy of religion fears that religion which has a state, has power, has an army, has an economy, has a financial system, has various administrative organizations; they fear this religion; otherwise, the religion that people go and worship in the mosque, well, let them do it for a hundred years; so this is also one of the factors [of the country's power]. Know that the non-separation of religion from life and from politics and the flow of religion in all the fibers [pieces of everything] of society's life is a correct religious knowledge; this must be realized and pursued. Otherwise, the name of religion and the name of our clerical nature and our turbaned nature and like this do nothing; we must truly act.' He does not want religion/Islam/Shiism to have a presence in a free competitive market and sell its goods in competition. The state's rent must back Islam and Shiism. If there are claims and assertions to present, those words can be offered in a free competitive space, and their establishment does not require state force. Yes, we fear from experience a religion armed with an army, IRGC, Ministry of Intelligence, prison, and over one trillion dollars in oil revenue. Whenever the state and the institution of religion become one, religion, state, and people will suffer. The state, by choosing one religion as the official religion, will impose discrimination in the name of that religion. The neutrality of the state towards religions and their followers will be revoked. The judiciary becomes a tool for the repression of the political regime. Preserving the regime becomes the most important obligation, and the constructs of pre-Islamic Arabs - namely 'the penal laws of jurisprudential endorsement' - are executed in the name of Islam. Second - Court judges: When the king appoints the head of the judiciary of the royal system, when the president and all officials of the judiciary and judges officially announce that they are subject to the wishes of the 'Supreme Leader,' the independence of the judiciary will be 'nullified by the absence of the subject.' A judiciary that has been managed by Mohammad Yazdi, Hashemi Shahroudi, Sadegh Larijani, Mohseni Ejei, Ebrahim Raisi ('the Ayatollah of Massacre'), Mohammadi Reyshahri, etc., will certainly implement the wishes of the king and has repressed thousands. However, the repression of critics, opponents, and rivals of the leadership by the judiciary has turned the relationship of this institution with independence into a relationship of the jinn and Bismillah. Why were Ayatollah Montazeri's five years of house arrest and the six years of house arrest of the leaders of the Green Movement carried out? When all jurists become court jurists, all officials of the judiciary compete with each other in issuing death sentences for the 'leaders of the sedition.' Third - Corruption of the judiciary: When the rentier state economy combines with the so-called religious neo-royal system, it corrupts everyone. Today, all officials of the regime are raising their voices about the spread of corruption and exposing each other's corruptions. The least corruption of the judiciary is judges taking bribes from plaintiffs and defendants in various cases. However, the corruption of the main officials of the judiciary - especially the Larijani brothers - is so extensive that it leaves no room for independence. Javad Larijani, a land grabber who is responsible for human rights in the judiciary, defended himself while Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was president due to concerns about the exposure of his widespread corruptions, like Mashaei and other Ahmadinejad followers. Ahmadinejad also displayed the film of his other brother in the parliament. Other officials of the branches and journalists know that if they expose the corruptions of the judiciary, their fate is prison and torture. The substantial revenues of the judiciary have been spent with the permission of Ayatollah Khamenei, and there are no reports of it. The truth is that Ayatollah Khamenei is the most important and principal opponent of judicial independence. If there were an independent judiciary, the first person to be tried and punished would be Seyyed Ali Khamenei. He is the root and foundation of all corruption and repression of the regime. 'The Ayatollah of Massacre' - Ebrahim Raisi, whose hands are stained with the blood of thousands of political and ideological prisoners from the bloody 1980s - has been appointed by him as the prosecutor of the Special Clerical Court. This is just one of the accusations against Khamenei.