Judiciary News Agency's Video Report Against Hamid Baghaei

Mizan News Agency, affiliated with Iran's judiciary, released a video report on Sunday, March 18, regarding Hamid Baghaei, the former Vice President under Ahmadinejad, referring to various issues as "part of the evidence of Baghaei's crimes." In two video reports totaling about eight minutes, references were made to "fictitious documentation," "embezzlement," and a "billion-dollar bag." The videos indicate that Baghaei's case has "both visible and hidden dimensions," mentioning that he committed some of his violations in the Cultural Heritage Organization and others in the Presidential Office. The website known as "Dolat Bahar," linked to Ahmadinejad's supporters, reacted to the release of these videos, stating that the judiciary's news agency "not only failed to achieve its goal but also undermined the reputation of the judiciary both legally and morally." In the videos published by Mizan, individuals whose faces are not shown and who are introduced as "former deputies and managers of Baghaei in the Cultural Heritage Organization" claim that he forced them to engage in "fictitious documentation." The videos also state that after calculating project costs, Baghaei would "add the amount he wanted to take and then order the payment," with subsidiary companies returning "60 to 70 percent of the money to Baghaei after taking their costs." Some sections of the videos also mention contracts being arranged "in the names of his relatives and close friends such as his second wife, brother, and brother-in-law." The Mizan report also refers to other "collusions" by Baghaei, but the Ahmadinejad-affiliated website stated that "the filmmakers did not bother to at least read their own court ruling on this matter," as they claim that the appellate court acquitted Baghaei of the charge of "collusion in government transactions." The official judiciary's video report also states that Baghaei conducted all "financial transactions in cash and using a black bag" to keep his secrets, and this bag was discovered after being deposited in a "bank safe deposit box" and "opened in the presence of the prosecutor." According to Mizan, this bag contained 170 coins, participation bonds, dollars, and euros worth 1.7 billion tomans. The video report is released while Baghaei has repeatedly called for a public trial and considered the prevention of Ahmadinejad's entry into his trial as a sign of its non-transparency. Hamid Baghaei, one of Ahmadinejad's closest allies, was transferred to prison last week after being sentenced to fifteen years and, according to his supporters, has been on hunger strike since then. Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, Ahmadinejad's chief of staff who has also been arrested, burned the court ruling against Baghaei in front of the British embassy in Tehran on Thursday. Ahmadinejad, in response to Baghaei's imprisonment, again criticized the judiciary, calling its officials "the white-fronted of corruption." The trial of Hamid Baghaei was also accompanied by controversies, as he repeatedly refused to attend his court sessions or appeared with a basket of documents. He also protested the trial process by staging a sit-in with Ahmadinejad and Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei at the shrine of Abdul Azim in Shahr-e Rey. Following pressures on his former managers and the opening of legal cases against them, Ahmadinejad has written several letters to Ayatollah Khamenei, calling for fundamental reforms in the country, including in the institutions under the leadership. The Supreme Leader stated during the protests of 2009 that Ahmadinejad's views were closer to his own.