Judiciary Deputy: Babak Zanjani Will Be Executed After Repaying Debt

The cultural deputy of Iran's judiciary announced that Babak Zanjani will be executed after repaying his debt to the government, but part of his assets are abroad and the judiciary does not currently have access to them. According to Tasnim News Agency, Hadi Sadeghi said on Thursday, December 13, in response to a question that Zanjani must return all his debts, but part of his assets are outside the country and 'we currently do not have access to them.' He added: 'People should not rush for the execution of Babak Zanjani because the judiciary does not want to lose the trail of these assets abroad, and all embezzled public funds must be returned before the execution of this defendant.' Previously, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, the Attorney General of Iran, had also stated that Zanjani's sentence is death and he will 'definitely' be executed. However, Rasoul Kouhpayehzadeh, Zanjani's lawyer, considered the return of assets by him to be effective in reducing the death sentence issued against him. According to him, in Zanjani's ruling, which has been 'confirmed by the Supreme Court, it is stipulated that in the case of asset return, the benefits of Article 114 of the Islamic Penal Code can be utilized. This article refers to pardon.' Babak Zanjani was accused in his third court session of receiving 'one million barrels of oil worth 300 million euros' from the Iranian oil company and having paid '160 million euros' of the 2.7 billion euros he was obliged to pay, spending the rest on personal matters. Zanjani's debt to the Ministry of Oil was previously reported to be around 8 trillion tomans, but officials at the Ministry of Oil believe that the damages resulting from this debt must also be paid. According to Ministry of Oil officials, the ownership of Mr. Zanjani's assets inside the country, valued at less than about 2 trillion tomans, has been transferred, which is about one-fifth of his debt to the Ministry of Oil. Previously, officials of Hassan Rouhani's government, including Bijan Zangeneh, the Minister of Oil, had said that with Zanjani's execution, the 'black box' of the case would be destroyed and the way to return the money to the treasury would be closed. Mr. Zangeneh also believes that the money that Babak Zanjani transferred to his bank abroad 'has been lost.' Meanwhile, government and judiciary officials have previously announced that efforts to recover Babak Zanjani's assets abroad have not yielded results. The Supreme Court has confirmed Babak Zanjani's death sentence, but the death sentences issued for Mehdi Shams and Hamid Fallah Heravi, the second and third defendants in this case, have been revoked, and they have been sentenced to 20 years in prison and the return of assets in a new court. Iranian media refer to Mehdi Shams as one of the former shipping managers and Hamid Fallah Heravi as one of the former security forces.