Javanfekr Sentenced to Two and a Half Years and Baqai to Six Months of Additional Imprisonment

Ali Akbar Javanfekr, advisor to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has been sentenced to two years and six months in prison, while Hamid Baqai, Ahmadinejad's executive assistant during his presidency, has received a six-month additional prison sentence. Mehran Abdollahpour, the lawyer for these two former officials, stated in an interview with the IRNA news agency on Saturday, September 31, that Ali Akbar Javanfekr was accused of 'insulting officials' and 'spreading falsehoods' due to his writings on his Telegram channel and was sentenced to two years and six months in prison by Branch 1060 of the Government Employees Court. The Revolutionary Court's Branch 1 also sentenced Ali Akbar Javanfekr to five years and one month in prison for his involvement with Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei in burning Hamid Baqai's ruling in front of the British embassy, on charges of 'conspiracy to commit a crime against national security.' During his tenure as the managing director of the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Javanfekr was previously sentenced to six months in prison for publishing 'materials contrary to Islamic principles' in the 'Khatun' special issue, and another six months for publishing 'materials and images contrary to public decency.' He had been detained and imprisoned at that time. In Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei's trial, Ali Akbar Javanfekr was identified as the second defendant. Mashaei was arrested on March 24, 2018, after burning Hamid Baqai's ruling in front of the British embassy in Tehran and was sentenced to six and a half years in prison, five years of which are enforceable. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has strongly criticized this ruling, stating that if Mashaei had not burned the ruling, 'I would have gone and burned it.' Abdollahpour also reported that Hamid Baqai was sentenced to six months in prison for calling the head of the judiciary 'oppressive.' Baqai has also been definitively sentenced to 15 years in prison for 'embezzlement' and 'misappropriation of public funds' and has been in prison since March 22, 2018. Baqai and Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei have described their trials as 'political' and their sentences as 'predetermined.' Ahmadinejad, on Sunday, September 25, also strongly criticized the judiciary and Mashaei's sentence, calling the head of the IRGC Intelligence Organization a person without 'balance' and stating, 'His job is to fabricate cases.'