Motahari Criticizes 'Case Fabrication' for Detainees in Detention Centers

The Deputy Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly criticized the 'case fabrication' for detainees and their detention aimed at pressuring them to obtain 'confessions' in detention centers, stating the 'impact' of interrogators on judges' rulings in Iran. Ali Motahari made these remarks on Wednesday (March 9) at the 'Lawyer's Day' conference at the Ministry of Interior's conference hall, noting that the Islamic Republic has not had 'good success' in various aspects of justice, including economic and judicial justice. Motahari urged the executive and judicial branches not to interfere in the work of lawyers, adding that 'a lawyer should be able to defend anyone without worrying about the consequences.' He emphasized that 'a lawyer must be independent in defense, and this independence is in the choice of the client and the type of defense.' He also requested that the Bar Association work more closely with the parliament and report legal violations, especially in the area of law enforcement. This representative cited several families of detainees who, when visiting the parliament, complained about the lengthy interrogations without a lawyer, especially in political crimes, and the influence of interrogators on judges' decisions. Motahari continued, stating that 'sometimes it is said that a detainee is arrested to make them confess and then fabricate a case. Some are held in solitary confinement for extended periods, while according to the law, political crimes can only be held in solitary confinement for a maximum of 15 days under certain conditions.' He quoted the child of a detainee who had been in solitary confinement for six months, stating that this individual was not allowed to choose a lawyer of their preference, being told that 'your lawyer must be on the list approved by the head of the judiciary,' although no such list existed. The member of the Hope faction of the parliament criticized the approval of Article 48 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which requires lawyers in security cases to be approved by the head of the judiciary, stating that 'due to this article, many political cases are being carried out without a lawyer, creating rent-seeking opportunities and depriving the accused of their rights.' Motahari pointed out the existence of 'many law enforcement agents' in the law, adding that 'the agents of the Revolutionary Guard have also been added to the law enforcement agents in the Criminal Procedure Code.' According to this representative, 'in some cases, it is said that interrogators play a key role, which undermines the rights of the accused, therefore the parliament must intervene in these matters.' He also called for the issuance of permits to allow non-clerical lawyers to work on complaints against clerics, questioning, 'Does a cleric have hidden issues that they want to remain undisclosed? Are we returning to a class-based government or to the Sassanian era? This matter needs to be reconsidered.' Previously, many journalists and civil and political activists have rejected the claim of judicial independence and reported on the dominance of interrogators over prison affairs and even judges' decisions. Narges Mohammadi, a human rights activist imprisoned in Evin prison, referred to the repeated statements of Sadegh Larijani, the head of the judiciary, regarding the 'independence of the judiciary,' rejecting this claim and stating that in Iran's judicial system, everything is 'completely subject to the biased and greedy opinions of interrogators from security-military institutions.' In an open letter addressed to Larijani published on March 1, she added that 'the duration of temporary detention, the conditions of holding detainees in solitary confinement, the severity of sentences and punishments, and the prisoners' access to their legal rights, including conditional release, leave, and even phone calls with young children' are all determined by the opinions of interrogators from security-military institutions. This human rights activist added that for this reason, 'the claim of judicial independence is a false and deceptive matter and a mockery of justice.' Mohammadi emphasized in her letter to Sadegh Larijani that 'the influence of interrogators over the most basic rights of prisoners, including leave, indicates the lack of independence of the judiciary and the extent of its subservience and control.' On March 7, a member of the Judicial and Legal Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly reported a '4.5 percent increase' in the number of prisoners and temporary detentions in the country in the year 1396, attributing it to 'the interest of some judges' in imprisonment or temporary detention. According to Mohammad Ali Pourmokhtar, 'some judges are interested in using imprisonment or temporary detention,' and this year, 'even the statistics of temporary detentions have significantly increased.' He did not specify the extent of the increase in temporary detentions this year, attributing the failure of the decriminalization law in 1396 to 'the views of some judges' and stating that people have repeatedly complained to the parliament about this issue. According to Pourmokhtar, some judges are 'distrustful' of using alternative punishments to imprisonment, and 'when there is no oversight and no questions are asked of judges, this problem will certainly not be resolved.' These criticisms come at a time when Sadegh Larijani has repeatedly spoken about the 'independence' of the judiciary in various situations, especially when responding to criticisms of judges and prison guards, asserting that this organization will not succumb to 'pressures.'