Guardian Council Member: Some Council Members Violated the Law in the 2009 Elections

Mohsen Esmaeili, a legal expert of the Guardian Council, stated regarding the events of the 2009 presidential election that some members of the Guardian Council overstepped their role as judges and violated the law. Speaking at a series of meetings at the Astan Quds Razavi on Thursday, January 1, he mentioned that certain members of the council had specific positions regarding some presidential candidates, thus violating the law to some extent during the elections. He added that to judge fairly about the events of the 2009 unrest, it must be acknowledged that some members of the Guardian Council exceeded their rights as judges. Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, and hardline conservatives refer to the protests against the presidential election results of 2009 as a 'sedition.' Esmaeili also emphasized that an individual in a judging position, especially as a member of the Guardian Council, must uphold impartiality and should not take positions for or against candidates based on the law. He did not name the members who violated the law, but Ahmad Jannati, the current secretary of the Guardian Council, praised the 'hardworking' government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the then-president, shortly before the presidential elections in early April 2009, warning against the rise of a president close to the enemy. These remarks led to protests from Mehdi Karroubi and other presidential candidates, who accused the Guardian Council of failing to maintain impartiality and formed a 'vote protection commission' to report on the election process. Regarding the 'conviction' of individuals involved in the 2009 protests, on Saturday, January 3, the spokesperson for the Guardian Council stated that the mere conviction of individuals for 'actions against the regime,' especially 'anti-security actions' during the 2009 protests, would prevent their participation in future elections. According to the Central News Unit, Najatollah Ebrahimi, the spokesperson, mentioned that in Article 30 of the election law, instances of criminal convictions are stated, and a prior conviction is considered a barrier. During the protests against the election results in 2009, Tehran and several other cities in Iran witnessed widespread protests for months, resulting in dozens of deaths and thousands of arrests by security forces. The spokesperson also commented on the 'presumption of innocence' in assessing the qualifications of candidates for parliamentary elections, stating that not being a criminal does not always equate to meeting legal qualifications. He noted that it is necessary to examine the relevant articles concerning parliamentary and presidential elections to determine if there is room to invoke the presumption of innocence. In response to a question about the current status of the Secretary-General of the National Trust Party and whether the continuation of this party's activities is legally prohibited if it nominates a candidate for elections, he stated that the law considers membership and support for illegal parties, which have been officially confirmed as illegal, as barriers. The Guardian Council is the final authority for reviewing the qualifications of candidates for parliamentary, Assembly of Experts, and presidential elections in Iran and has always faced protests due to widespread disqualifications of candidates.