Lawyer Pursuing Financial Case of 'Judge Mortazavi' Imprisoned Following His Complaint

Mostafa Torkhamdani, a lawyer, was imprisoned for 91 days due to pursuing the financial case of Saeed Mortazavi, known as 'Judge Mortazavi,' the former CEO of the Social Security Organization during Ahmadinejad's presidency, based on his complaint. Payman Haj Mahmoud Attar, who represents Torkhamdani, told Ham-Mihan newspaper on Tuesday, May 7, that Mortazavi had received a 'definitive penal conviction' due to financial issues related to the organization after complaints from some members of parliament and several policyholders of the Social Security Organization, with Torkhamdani representing him. However, in 2022, Mortazavi was acquitted of all financial charges. He added that his client, who had long pursued Mortazavi's case as the CEO of the Social Security Organization, had 'publicized the receipt of funds from Mortazavi and the Social Security Organization at the Elite Justice Institute,' where Mortazavi was 'a partner,' and subsequently, this individual 'complained against my client for spreading falsehoods.' This lawyer stated that despite providing the case of financial investigations against Mortazavi to the 'investigating judge of the complaint against Torkhamdani' and despite it being established that 'there was no false information and all matters were legally recorded,' his client was sentenced to 15 million tomans in fines in addition to serving time in prison. Torkhamdani's lawyer added that one of the financial issues during Mortazavi's presidency at the Social Security Organization was the payment of funds from this organization's account to the 'Elite Justice Charity Institute,' while according to the official newspaper and company registration site, Mortazavi himself is a member and signatory of this institute. This lawyer stated that the reason for Mortazavi's acquittal of financial charges, despite having received definitive rulings at all stages, was that among dozens of Supreme Court cases, 'Mortazavi's request for retrial was referred to a branch overseen by one of the shareholders and managers of the Elite Justice Institute.' It is worth mentioning that Judge Mortazavi was previously the former prosecutor of Tehran and played a role in the murder of Zahra Kazemi and the conviction and torture of dozens of journalists and political activists. During Mortazavi's tenure as prosecutor, at least three detainees from the July 2009 protests were killed in the Kahrizak detention center, and many more were tortured. Zahra Kazemi, an Iranian-Canadian journalist, was also killed in Evin prison years ago while visiting her family in Tehran, with her death directly attributed to Mortazavi's involvement. In the course of examining Mortazavi's financial charges in the Social Security Organization, he was also sentenced to penal imprisonment in a case where he spent some time in prison but was released at the first opportunity due to a reduction and pardon from Ali Khamenei.