Iran's Judiciary Closes Its Websites to 'Foreigners'

Access to the official website of the Judiciary, the websites of the 31 provincial courts, and some subsidiary websites of this institution has been blocked for users outside Iran. This access restriction began about two months ago, and users with IP addresses outside Iran cannot access these websites. Judiciary officials have not yet provided an explanation for the reason behind this restriction. This action comes at a time when the 'Mizan' news agency, affiliated with the Judiciary, has started its activities aimed at informing about the actions of this institution, and access to this news agency has not been restricted for foreign users, unlike other Judiciary websites. The 31 provincial court websites have been one of the main news sources regarding executions and the implementation of Islamic punishment in provinces, cities, and villages in Iran, and their news and reports are considered an important news reference for media and human rights activists in preparing news and reports about the human rights situation in Iran. The 'Public Relations Center' of the Judiciary is also among the websites blocked for users outside Iran. This website is one of the most important communication channels for people and human rights activists with Judiciary officials, which civil activists have used in recent years to register their direct protests against certain judicial rulings. Access to these websites for users outside the country has been blocked while the Human Rights Headquarters of the Judiciary is exempt from this restriction, and its news and reports are accessible to them. The Human Rights Headquarters of the Judiciary has been active since 2002 and is headed by Mohammad Javad Larijani, the brother of the Judiciary Chief. This headquarters has repeatedly rejected reports from the United Nations and other human rights organizations regarding the human rights situation in Iran in recent years, declaring the sources they used to prepare their reports as 'unreliable.' This is while the sources of these human rights reports have significantly been extracted from the official reports and statistics of the Judiciary and provincial courts, which judicial officials have also blocked access to for these institutions. Interestingly, this action by the Judiciary occurred before the official announcement of the commencement of preliminary human rights negotiations between Iran and the European Union. Mohammad Javad Larijani, the Secretary of the Human Rights Headquarters of the Judiciary, announced on August 5 that Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Federica Mogherini, the EU's foreign policy chief, have begun human rights discussions. According to Mr. Larijani, 'The human rights negotiations with the Europeans stem from the system's request,' and the negotiation topics have been presented by the Human Rights Headquarters of the Judiciary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He did not mention the details of these negotiations, but it seems that the discussion of executions and the issuance of prison sentences for media, civil, and political activists are among the issues that both parties may consider in this round of talks. Western countries and international human rights organizations have been pressuring the Islamic Republic's officials for years to halt executions in Iran, but they claim that a significant portion of executions pertains to 'drug traffickers' and the implementation of 'retribution' sentences. The blocking of access to the provincial court websites for users outside the country is significant because news, images, and reports of many executions and the implementation of 'retribution' sentences are usually published there. This unprecedented action seems to be related to the appointment of Azad Ebrahimzadegan, the security and intelligence chief of 'Young Journalists Club,' as the head of the Judiciary's media center. Azad Ebrahimzadegan was appointed to this position in March 2015 by Sadegh Larijani, the head of the Judiciary, resulting in the strengthening of the 'Mizan' news agency and the blocking of some Judiciary websites for users outside the country. Ebrahimzadegan is one of the few security figures of the Islamic Republic who has been responsible for preparing and broadcasting security and intelligence programs at 'Young Journalists Club' for years, and during his presidency, numerous reports, images, and videos against a group of political, civil, and media activists were published by 'Young Journalists Club.' Ebrahimzadegan is introduced by some conservatives as a figure comparable to Hossein Shariatmadari and Hassan Shayanfar at Kayhan Institute, who has a security and intelligence perspective on media and media activities in Iran, and with his commencement at the Judiciary, the 'Mizan' news agency has become the most important news reference for this collection. This news agency currently does not cover many news and reports from the 31 provincial court websites regarding executions, flogging, and social restrictions, and instead prioritizes news of clashes with 'bandits' and 'drug traffickers' in the provinces. Many printed and online media inside Iran also do not reflect the news and reports of provincial and county courts much, and for this reason, executions and human rights violations in counties have recently been overshadowed by this decision of the Judiciary.