Raisi: The Zanjani Case is Under Review and No One Can Intervene

Less than a week after members of parliament renewed their request to meet with Babak Zanjani, Iran's Attorney General Ebrahim Raisi rejected this request, stating that Zanjani's case is 'under review' and in this situation, 'no one can intervene.' Following two months of efforts and correspondence by a group of parliament members known as the 'Committee for Following Up on the Babak Zanjani Case' to meet with this 'economic suspect' in Evin Prison, Amir Abbas Soltani, a member of this committee, stated on September 9 that another letter would be prepared to request a meeting with Babak Zanjani and sent to the head of the judiciary. He noted that representatives had 'seriously' sought to meet with Babak Zanjani in recent months and had sent a letter to the judiciary, but 'ultimately this matter did not yield results.' This issue was reflected in a special news interview on state television's Channel Two, which took place on Sunday, September 15, with the presence of the Attorney General. In response to the question of why the request for a meeting by some members of parliament with Babak Zanjani is not accepted, Raisi stated that 'contacting the suspect definitely requires judicial permission, and judicial proceedings are solely the domain of the judge; the media or anyone else cannot intervene in this matter.' On July 1 of this year, Amir Abbas Soltani told the 'House of the Nation' news agency that a group of parliament members was set to hold a special meeting with Babak Zanjani in Evin Prison in August. He stated that this request had been communicated to the head of the judiciary and that the meeting would take place after Ramadan in Evin Prison. Soltani explained that 'unfortunately, since Zanjani's arrest, parliament members have had little information about his status and the progress of the case, so these issues will be addressed in the mentioned meeting.' However, this meeting did not take place as scheduled, although Mehdi Mousavi Nejad, another member of the Committee for Following Up on the Babak Zanjani Case, stated that representatives are looking to 'clarify ambiguities in the case' rather than 'verify Zanjani's presence in prison.' The issue of representatives' requests to meet with Babak Zanjani was also pursued in mid-August in their correspondence with the office of the first deputy of the judiciary, and despite 'initial agreements between the parliament and the judiciary' for this meeting, it remained unresolved. Previously, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the spokesman for the judiciary, had also told reporters in mid-August that 'any legal request from representatives is accepted [but] representatives, based on their legal duty, do not have the right to intervene in judicial cases.' The statements made by the Attorney General on Sunday night were not only a reaction to the representatives' request to meet with Babak Zanjani. Raisi was also asked whether he would allow media interviews with Babak Zanjani. The Attorney General responded, 'No! Because this suspect's case is under review, and he is in the position of a suspect, and the judicial process of this case must be followed.' Raisi continued, 'Interviewing a suspect disrupts judicial matters. For this reason, this can only be done with the court's opinion.' He also clarified that 'after a final verdict is issued, there is no problem interviewing the convicted person, and this can help clarify and analyze crimes.' Babak Zanjani, who is said to have collaborated with Iran's Ministry of Oil under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government in selling oil and transferring the money back to the country after the intensification of international sanctions against Iran, was arrested in December 2013 on charges of failing to pay his debts to the Ministry of Oil. Babak Zanjani's name also appears in the 'economic corruption' case of Saeed Mortazavi, the head of the Social Security Organization, with allegations that 137 companies of this organization were transferred to Babak Zanjani without adhering to legal regulations. Additionally, Saeed Mortazavi is accused of having given 'five checks totaling 400 billion Japanese yen' to Babak Zanjani to pay off his debt to the Ministry of Oil. Before his arrest, Babak Zanjani claimed to own over 70 companies and tens of billions of dollars in assets in Iran and abroad, but according to the Iranian Minister of Oil, his assets are insufficient to repay his debts. In this context, the Babak Zanjani case has reached '200,000 pages' in the Revolutionary Court. A member of parliament stated: 'We are unaware of the location where Babak Zanjani is being held.' Half of the cash in Babak Zanjani's possession 'has not returned to the treasury.' The lawyer of the Social Security Organization stated: 'Mortazavi was an accomplice of Zanjani.' The Social Security Organization stated: 'Zanjani has not yet returned the organization's checks.' The Iranian Minister of Oil stated: 'Zanjani never intended to return the oil money in the first place.'