Hope Faction of Parliament Seeks Further Investigation into Saeed Toosi's Case

The Vice President of the Hope Faction of Parliament has called for the public prosecutor to intervene in Saeed Toosi's case, while the faction's spokesperson stated that the explanations provided by the Deputy of the Judiciary and the Minister of Justice regarding this case were 'not convincing' for the members of the faction. Previously, this Quran reciter's case concerning allegations of child sexual abuse and 'committing acts against chastity' had been closed. Saeed Toosi is a well-known Quran reciter in Iran, whose recitations are significant in the presence of the Supreme Leader and at government ceremonies such as the opening of the Islamic Consultative Assembly. Bahram Parsai, the spokesperson for the Hope Faction, announced in an interview with the Shargh newspaper on Wednesday, June 8, that the faction had reviewed Saeed Toosi's case in a meeting with the Deputy of the Judiciary and the Minister of Justice. According to Mr. Parsai, their explanations regarding this case were 'not convincing' for the members of the Hope Faction. He also mentioned that the plaintiffs in this case, who are young Quran reciters, have 'resorted to using psychiatric medication and are not in a good mental and emotional state.' Meanwhile, Abdul Karim Hosseinzadeh, the Vice President of the Hope Faction, called for consideration of the 'damage inflicted on public opinion and the hurt feelings of the people' in this case, and urged that besides the Hope Faction, the Civil Rights Faction and the Article 90 Commission of Parliament should 'seriously address this issue.' Mahmoud Sadeghi, a representative from Tehran, reported on Friday, January 26, that Saeed Toosi, the famous Quran reciter, had been acquitted of the charge of 'spreading corruption and prostitution' in the appeals court. He had previously been sentenced to four years in prison in the initial trial. On Wednesday, Sadeghi also tweeted that the website of the House of the People, affiliated with Parliament, had interviewed him about this case, but ultimately informed him that the interview was deemed 'not publishable.' Mr. Sadeghi had previously published a letter from the head of the Article 90 Commission of Parliament to the head of the Judiciary, stating that the head of the Tehran Judiciary had 'taken' the case from Branch 56 of the appeals court, and this case 'has not yet been returned.' This parliament member also tweeted: 'The evidence suggests that the Quranic child abuser is supported by an individual or individuals who have infiltrated the office of the Supreme Leader.' In response, Saeed Toosi denied the claims of influence from officials in this case in an interview with Ensaf News. Previously, two of Saeed Toosi's plaintiffs had stated in an interview with Radio Farda that an order for his non-prosecution had been issued due to the intervention of 'Ali Moghadam, the communications officer of the office of the Supreme Leader,' the 'head of the Judiciary,' and the 'prosecutor of Tehran.' Furthermore, according to an image of the letter from the head of the Article 90 Commission of Parliament to the head of the Judiciary regarding this case, the investigator had issued an 'indictment' for Mohammad Gandom Nejad Toosi, known as Saeed Toosi, in 2012, but on May 9, 2013, an order for his non-prosecution was issued based on the 'opinion' of Ali Khalafi, an advisor to the head of the Judiciary, and the 'opinion' of Abbas Jafari Dolat Abadi, the prosecutor of Tehran. Earlier, Radio Farda had reported on the background of the investigator of Saeed Toosi's case, Reza Kian Manesh Rad, who had closed Saeed Toosi's case while previously requesting heavy sentences for internet defendants, including Saeed Malekpour, who was arrested by the Revolutionary Guards in projects titled 'Gordab' and 'Muzlin.' Besides Saeed Malekpour, some other internet defendants for whom Kian Manesh Rad was the investigator, including Hassan Sih-Sakhti, were sentenced to death, which was ultimately revoked. Other internet activists such as Hossein Ronaghi Maleki and Abolfazl Abedini, for whom he was the investigator, received long prison sentences of over 10 years.