Judiciary Spokesman Says Football Corruption Case is at the Stage of Summoning Defendants

Asghar Jahangir, the spokesman for the judiciary, stated on Tuesday, May 29, regarding the corruption case in Iranian football that the case is at the stage of 'summoning defendants.' The spokesman mentioned, 'Based on the latest follow-ups, the case is currently at the stage of summoning defendants, and necessary actions will be taken regarding the issuance of appropriate guarantees. We hope to announce the details to the public in the shortest possible time.' Mehdi Taj, the head of the Iranian Football Federation, confirmed on May 17 that Khodadad Afsharian, the head of the referees committee, and Soheil Mahdi, the head of the competitions committee of the league organization, are among the defendants in the football corruption case in Kerman, stating that the four defendants in this case had received '25 gold coins' as bribes. Jahangir also announced the issuance of a final ruling for Javad Sadati-Nejad, the former Minister of Agricultural Jihad in Ebrahim Raisi's government, but mentioned that this ruling is still under review for the application of Article 447 for execution. At the end of May 2023, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the head of the judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran, reported the conviction of Javad Sadati-Nejad to three years in prison but noted that the defendants in this case had requested the 'application of Article 477.' According to this article of the criminal procedure law, if the head of the judiciary deems the final ruling of judicial authorities 'contrary to clear Islamic law,' the case is sent for retrial to the Supreme Court. According to the spokesman of the judiciary, this matter is under review, and if the 'application of Article 477' is not accepted, Mr. Sadati-Nejad's ruling will be executed. Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei had previously reported in December 2023 that Sadati-Nejad and his deputy were being prosecuted in the 'animal feed' case, which was related to violations in the allocation of currency for imports and, according to him, led to the resignation of the Minister of Agricultural Jihad. These violations ultimately resulted in a three-year prison sentence for the former Minister of Agricultural Jihad in Ebrahim Raisi's government. Javad Sadati-Nejad is also mentioned as one of the defendants in the case known as 'Dabesh Tea,' but the proceedings for that case have not yet reached a conclusion in the judiciary. The significant financial violations in tea imports, which later became known as the 'Dabesh Tea' case, were first revealed in December 2023 by the General Inspection Organization, which announced that a $2 billion corruption in tea imports had been carried out by a 'specific group.' Ebrahim Raisi's government immediately claimed to have 'discovered' this 'financial corruption,' and the special inspection of the president announced that the relevant managers in this case had been dismissed at the highest levels. However, Mohseni Ejei later stated that the government had not yet introduced any offending government officials in the tea import corruption case to the judiciary. Asghar Jahangir also referred to the case of Yasin Ramin on Tuesday, stating that the judiciary takes legal action regarding any convict outside the country. A red notice was issued for the 'person in question' on October 18 to facilitate judicial follow-up for his extradition. Yasin Ramin, who was the manager of the 'Roshd' pharmaceutical company, was accused of receiving two million euros from the Red Crescent Society for importing medicines and medical equipment but failing to deliver this amount to the seller. Following Ramin's appeal against this ruling, the appeals court acquitted him of the charges. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court overturned the acquittal of Yasin Ramin and sentenced him to three years in prison and ordered him to pay over 873,000 euros. Ramin was detained from July to December 2016 but was later released on bail. Reports indicate that Yasin Ramin left Iran before the appeals court ruling. Mahnaz Afshar, an actress and Ramin's wife, recently posted a picture of him in their yard in Germany with their daughter on her Instagram story.