Mahdi Hashemi Refuses to Pay Fine

Fars News Agency, quoting Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabai, Mahdi Hashemi's lawyer, reports that his client does not accept his conviction, and therefore will not pay the restitution and fine imposed by the ruling. On Saturday, January 20, Fars News Agency wrote that in response to their inquiry about whether Mahdi Hashemi has paid his restitution and fine, his lawyer stated, 'Mahdi does not accept the ruling, and for this reason, he will not pay the restitution and fine mentioned in the ruling.' Mahdi Hashemi, son of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the head of the Expediency Discernment Council, has been serving his 10-year sentence in Evin Prison since August 18. Mahdi Hashemi, former head of Iran's Fuel Consumption Optimization Organization, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in June for embezzlement, bribery, and security-related crimes. Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabai initially stated that he had filed a request for retrial but later announced that he had withdrawn the retrial request from the prosecutor's office and that his client had voluntarily gone to Evin Prison to serve his sentence. Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, spokesman for Iran's judiciary, stated in August after the confirmation of Mahdi Hashemi's sentence in the appeals court that the initial court had sentenced him to a total of 15 years in prison for embezzlement accompanied by forgery, bribery, and security crimes, but the appeals court increased these sentences to 10 years for embezzlement, 10 years for bribery, and 5 years for security crimes, totaling 25 years. However, he added that according to Islamic Penal Code, only the most severe punishment would be executed, which is the 10 years of imprisonment. Ejei did not provide further details, but Fars News Agency reported at that time that 'according to Article 5 of the Law on Increasing Punishments for Bribery, Embezzlement, and Fraud, Mahdi Hashemi was accused of receiving a bribe in a 600 million Toman embezzlement case, for which he was sentenced to 10 years in prison, restitution of 600 million Tomans, and a fine of 1.2 billion Tomans, as well as permanent dismissal from public service.' Tasnim News Agency also reported, citing an anonymous judicial source, that Mahdi Hashemi was sentenced to restitution and fines totaling over 10 million dollars and nearly 2 billion Tomans in addition to his prison sentence. This news agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, also reported on Saturday, June 23, that Mahdi Hashemi's son was sentenced to 50 lashes. Mahdi Hashemi has repeatedly stated that he does not accept his conviction and, on the day he went to Evin Prison, told Iranian news agencies that he wanted his trial proceedings to be broadcast on Iranian television. Mahdi Hashemi's family has also rejected his sentence, considering its issuance politically motivated and aimed at harming his father, especially in connection with the Assembly of Experts elections. In contrast, the judiciary has accused Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani of 'pressuring' the judiciary. In this context, Larijani commented on the farewell video of Mahdi Hashemi: 'It was intended to undermine the judiciary.' Fatemeh Hashemi stated that one of Mahdi's interrogators was a member of the former nuclear team. The Rafsanjani family has protested the judiciary's silence regarding 'shameful accusations.' Fa'ezeh Hashemi stated that her brother's imprisonment is related to election engineering. Ejei remarked that Hashemi's pressure on the judiciary is extraordinary.