Judiciary Spokesman: No Crime Established for Fazel Larijani

The first deputy of Iran's judiciary once again denied reports about the 'espionage' of the daughter of the head of this judiciary and announced that no crime has been established for Fazel Larijani, brother of Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, in the case of attempting to obtain a bribe from the Social Security Organization. Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei expressed these remarks during a Q&A session at Sharif University of Technology in Tehran on Tuesday, December 20. Mr. Mohseni Ejei accused Saeed Mortazavi, the then-head of the Social Security Organization and former prosecutor of Tehran, of intending to fabricate a case against the brother of the judiciary chief 'with a conspiracy' along with other individuals. He added, 'If a complaint is filed against him, Mortazavi will also be prosecuted.' Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in 2012, during the impeachment of the then Minister of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare, broadcast a video of a conversation between Fazel Larijani and Saeed Mortazavi, in which the brother of the judiciary chief asks Mr. Mortazavi for a bribe. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hamid Baghaei have also recently alluded to the issue of 'espionage' of Zahra Larijani, the daughter of the judiciary chief, and the cases of 'land grabbing' and financial corruption involving Mohammad Javad Larijani and Fazel Larijani, the two brothers of the heads of the judiciary and the legislative branch. Judiciary officials had previously denied reports about the 'espionage' of the judiciary chief's daughter. A case regarding the 'land grabbing' of Mohammad Javad Larijani was also formed in previous years, but no report has been published regarding its outcome. Meanwhile, the judiciary spokesman emphasized on Tuesday that reports about the 'espionage' of the judiciary chief's daughter are '100 percent false' and that she 'has had no contact with any intelligence service and has not been arrested anywhere.' 'If Baghaei agrees, his handwriting will be published.' The first deputy of the judiciary also announced that if Hamid Baghaei agrees, his handwriting stating that he wishes to remain in solitary confinement will be published. Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei emphasized: 'I showed the handwriting and it still exists; if he consents, it will be published, and of course, he can claim forgery.' The first deputy of the judiciary had stated during Baghaei's detention that he had indicated in a letter that he wished to remain in 'suite (solitary confinement).' Mr. Baghaei, after his release in August of this year, denied Mr. Ejei's statements and said that he, like during his tenure as Minister of Intelligence in Ahmadinejad's first government, 'is lying.' The Supreme National Security Council's resolution regarding the house arrest 'remains in effect.' The first deputy of the judiciary also responded to a question about the reasons for not prosecuting the leaders of the protests against the 2009 election results by saying: 'We have repeatedly said that the Supreme National Security Council has resolved that it is not advisable for them to be prosecuted, and they have been placed under house arrest. This resolution is still in effect; if it were not, the judiciary would have intervened at that time.' Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei also emphasized regarding the media ban on Mohammad Khatami, the former president of Iran, that this action was based on a resolution from the 'commissions' of the Supreme National Security Council. These remarks were made while Hassan Rouhani, the president of Iran, had previously announced that the Supreme National Security Council and its committees had no resolution regarding the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard, and Mehdi Karroubi and the media ban on Mohammad Khatami. Mr. Mousavi, Mr. Karroubi, and Ms. Rahnavard have been under house arrest without trial since February 2011, and their requests to appear in a public court have not been accepted so far. Ali Motahari, the deputy speaker of the parliament, in a letter to the judiciary spokesman on August 30, described the continued house arrest based on the Supreme National Security Council's resolution as 'contrary to the constitution' and raised the question of whether the opposition to their prosecution 'does not create the suspicion of fear of revealing the truths?' In recent months, reports have emerged regarding 'new restrictions' on Mohammad Khatami's attendance at public events, but judiciary officials and Hossein Nejat, the deputy of the IRGC Intelligence Organization, stated that these restrictions are 'not new' and are 'preventive measures' based on a resolution from the Secretariat of the Supreme National Security Council. The issue of banning the publication of images and news about Mohammad Khatami arose in winter 2014, and at that time reports indicated that Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the public and revolutionary prosecutor of Tehran, had warned media managers in a meeting against publishing images and mentioning the name of the former president of Iran, threatening to suspend and shut down their media outlets. In this context, Motahari called for the prosecution of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and for his trial to be held publicly. Sadegh Larijani described Ahmadinejad's remarks against the judiciary as 'the highest betrayal.' Hamid Baghaei called for the resignation of Iranian judiciary officials. Ahmadinejad stated: 'There was no intention to have a judiciary dictatorship.' The government spokesman stated: 'The judiciary will deal independently with others just like the president's brother.'