Ejei: If Ismail Bakhti Complains, the Prosecutor Will Get Involved

Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the spokesperson for the judiciary, on Sunday, January 6, regarding the issue of "torture" of Ismail Bakhti, a representative of the workers of the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Company, said, "If he files a complaint, the prosecutor will get involved." According to ISNA news agency, in response to a question about the "torture" of Ismail Bakhti, he stated: "I heard from others that he wrote a letter to the Minister of Intelligence, and presumably, the Ministry of Intelligence will follow up; however, I do not know whether his letter to the Ministry of Intelligence is correct or not." The judiciary spokesperson added: "The Ministry of Intelligence will follow up, and certainly, the judiciary will also get involved if a complaint is filed. We need to see how the matter is and if he files a complaint, the prosecutor will get involved, and if the Ministry of Intelligence sees any violations, it will definitely report it to the judiciary." Ismail Bakhti, the representative of the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Company workers, who claims he was tortured during his detention, has requested a debate in a live television program with the Minister of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic, and 34 student organizations have also supported this request and expressed readiness to hold this debate. Ismail Bakhti was arrested during the protests of November by Haft Tappeh workers on November 27 and was detained by the Ministry of Intelligence for nearly a month. He wrote on his Instagram: "For 72 hours, I could not move in my cell, and I was beaten so much that even the pain of sleeping was unbearable for me." He, along with Sepideh Ghaleian, who was arrested with him, has demanded public accountability from the Minister of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic in a televised debate. According to Bakhti, agents of the Ministry of Intelligence "beat them" and hurled "various kinds of vulgar sexual insults" at them, and his family was also "monitored." Reports indicate that the Hope faction of the Islamic Consultative Assembly invited officials from the Ministry of Intelligence to investigate Ismail Bakhti's statements regarding abuse and torture during his detention and to provide a report on this matter. Mohammad Kazemi, the deputy chairman of the Judicial Commission of the Assembly, also stated in an interview with ILNA news agency on Saturday, January 5, that Bakhti's claims about torture must be "investigated" and that the "relevant commission" in the Assembly should hold a meeting on this. He added: "With this claim, a lot of pressure has been created against the officials of the country, and it must definitely be addressed." Meanwhile, Alireza Rahimi, a member of the Assembly's presiding board, also wrote on his personal Twitter page that "the Speaker of the Assembly agreed with my proposal to investigate Ismail Bakhti's claims in the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Assembly." He added: "I also discussed the issue with the head of the commission, and it was decided to thoroughly address all claims in the commission at the earliest opportunity with the presence of the Minister of Intelligence." Ali Motahari, the deputy speaker of the Assembly, also wrote in the Etemad newspaper that Ismail Bakhti in his letter "talked about severe physical and psychological tortures in prison and also the monitoring of his mobile phone and conversations with his wife by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence. The Ministry of Intelligence must inform whether these allegations are true or not, and if they are true, what legal basis they have for these actions?" He added: "If Mr. Bakhti's statements are true, the perpetrators must be identified and punished as soon as possible. In any case, the Minister of Intelligence must provide a convincing answer. Otherwise, the Assembly has a duty to defend the oppressed and citizens' rights. If Mr. Bakhti's claims are true, it shows that there are still forces within the Ministry of Intelligence who think they can use any means to preserve the system. This phenomenon is a source of shame for the government of hope and prudence that came to power with the slogan of freedom and defense of citizens' rights." Ali Akbar Gorji Azandarian, the Deputy for Pursuing the Implementation of the Constitution of the President, also reacted to this issue on his Instagram page. Gorji emphasized Article 38 of the Constitution, which prohibits torture for the purpose of obtaining information or confessions, writing: "Mr. Ismail Bakhti should submit his complaint in writing to the competent authorities as soon as possible. We in the Deputy for Pursuing the Implementation of the Constitution of the Presidency are ready to assist him and pursue the matter." Since the 1979 revolution, political activists have repeatedly reported organized and prolonged torture during their detention, and some prisoners have died as a result of torture, with the recent example being Sattar Beheshti. The Kahrizak detention center is one of the examples mentioned in the Iranian Parliament's report on the torture of prisoners there.