Motahari: The Path to Reforming the System is the Clear Expression of Mistakes

The Vice President of the Islamic Consultative Assembly reacted to criticisms regarding his stance on the executions of 1988, stating that for the "reform of the system" of the Islamic Republic, he believes in the need to express "mistakes openly." According to a report on Saturday, September 16, from ILNA news agency, Ali Motahari made this statement in a statement responding to Abolfazl Hassanbeigi, the representative of Damghan. Mr. Hassanbeigi recently criticized Motahari's position regarding the audio file of Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri and the 1988 executions, stating that if he has "objections regarding several cases, he should present his objections confidentially to the judiciary." The representative of Damghan labeled Ali Motahari as "illogical," expecting him to act like his father, Morteza Motahari, and not to misuse the name Motahari to create such a commotion. In response to these remarks, the Vice President of the Assembly criticized those who "do not believe in mistakes in the Islamic Republic and consider a divine existence for the system." He stated that "some others believe in mistakes, but say it should not be expressed openly as it would weaken the system." Mr. Motahari added that he is among those who believe "mistakes should be expressed openly so that they do not recur and the system can be reformed, and in my opinion, this is the right way unless there are cases that can be corrected through hidden actions, which are very few." This member of parliament added that he has a "problem" with "these types of people" who advise him to behave like "his father" and that they have a "misconception" about Morteza Motahari. Following the release of the audio file of Mr. Montazeri opposing the executions of the Mojahedin prisoners in 1988, Motahari wrote a letter to Mostafa Pourmohammadi, the Minister of Justice in Hassan Rouhani's government and a member of the three-person committee responsible for those executions, asking him to clarify this issue. His stance faced a strong reaction from several conservative members of parliament, who called for his removal from the Vice Presidency of the Assembly. However, Mr. Motahari reiterated his request and stance, demanding clarification from the relevant officials regarding the 1988 executions. He also asked Pourmohammadi to write a letter regarding Zahra Kazemi, a Canadian-Iranian journalist who was arrested in 2003 for photographing a gathering of families of prisoners outside Evin prison and was killed in custody. The judiciary officials, under the leadership of Pourmohammadi, announced the cause of her death as "fainting and hitting her head on the ground, ultimately leading to a brain injury." Mr. Motahari also called for an investigation into the cases of those who used Saeed Mortazavi, who was "seeking power as a tool," and hid behind him. In this regard, Bahram Parsai, the spokesman for the Hope faction in the Assembly, also stated that "the reality is that Mortazavi has not apologized but has confessed to the mistakes he committed over the past seven years." He called for a "special court" to be held regarding the events of Kahrizak to determine who were the commanders and perpetrators of these issues. Mr. Parsai added that "certainly Mr. Mortazavi was not the only one responsible for these incidents, and it should be clarified whether he will name other commanders and perpetrators of the Kahrizak atrocities or not." He also urged the judiciary and the public prosecutor to "not remain silent" regarding this confession. Other points mentioned in the statements of the spokesman for the Hope faction in this discussion included "some possible motivations" of Saeed Mortazavi for confessing to shortcomings in the Kahrizak events. Mr. Parsai stated that "it is possible that new documents have been presented that have made it impossible for Mortazavi to continue concealing the crimes of Kahrizak or for any reason, he has been forced to make such a confession." He also called for an apology from the former Tehran prosecutor to some of the detainees at Kahrizak who were abused. Mohsen Rouhalamini, Mohammad Kamerani, and Amir Javadi-Far are among the victims of Kahrizak who were arrested during the street protests on July 9, 2009, and died after being transferred to this detention center, which was ordered by Saeed Mortazavi. After the death of Mohsen Rouhalamini, whose father Abdolhossein Rouhalamini was a government official, Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, ordered the closure of Kahrizak detention center due to what he announced as "the lack of necessary standards for holding prisoners." At that time, Ali Motahari stated that more important than closing this detention center was pursuing the factors behind the torture of prisoners.