Lawyer of Plaintiffs Shocked by Court Ruling Against Former Prosecutor Mortazavi

Mostafa Torkhamdani, the defense lawyer for several workers who are plaintiffs in the social security case, told ILNA that the ruling against Saeed Mortazavi, the former CEO of the Social Security Organization, has been communicated to him. Mortazavi has been sentenced to 70 and 65 lashes for 'illegal appropriation and negligence in performing duties.' In the report of the parliamentary investigation into the Social Security Organization in December 2013, Mortazavi was accused of widespread financial misconduct. Following this, several workers and employees filed complaints against him for 'embezzlement and betrayal of trust.' On November 3, Torkhamdani stated that the judge could have considered 'embezzlement' as a criminal act in the 'appropriation of the Social Security Organization's assets.' However, the court has currently sentenced the former CEO to lashes for 'illegal appropriation and negligence in performing duties.' According to Torkhamdani, in the case of complaints from Abbas Palizdar and Peyman Haj Mahmoud Attar against Mortazavi, 'acquittal has been obtained,' while a 'conviction' has been issued in the case of a former representative from Karaj and his wife. Details of the conviction regarding the third complaint are not clear. Abbas Palizdar, a member of the seventh parliamentary investigation committee from the judiciary, had filed a complaint against Mortazavi, stating that he was 'threatened with execution' to declare that everything he said about former judicial officials was a lie. Mortazavi had previously denied Palizdar's allegations. Peyman Haj Mahmoud Attar, another lawyer for the plaintiffs, had previously accused Mortazavi of paying his lawyers' fees in personal cases like Kahrizak from the Social Security account. On November 1, the plaintiffs' lawyer announced the issuance of Mortazavi's ruling but added that the ruling was not given to him directly and was said to be 'delivered by mail.' Now, after receiving the ruling, Torkhamdani says he is 'shocked' by the issued verdict and 'will definitely appeal.' The fourth and final hearing for Mortazavi's case regarding the complaints and accusations raised in the Social Security Organization was held in September of this year in a branch of the Government Employees Court. Mortazavi also had another case related to the deaths of several detainees from the 2009 protests at the Kahrizak detention center when he was the prosecutor of Tehran. He was acquitted of the charge of complicity in the murder of Mohsen Rouh-al-Amini, one of the victims of this detention center, and of false reporting in this case. The former prosecutor stated years after the deaths of the Kahrizak detainees that he was 'ashamed' about it.