Saeed Mortazavi Sentenced to 'Imprisonment and Asset Recovery'

The spokesperson for the Iranian judiciary announced, without providing details, that Saeed Mortazavi, the former head of the Social Security Organization and former prosecutor of Tehran, has been sentenced to 'imprisonment and asset recovery' and has also been 'acquitted' of 'some charges.' Meanwhile, Mustafa Turk Hamdani, the lawyer representing the workers who have filed complaints against Mortazavi in the Social Security case, stated on Tuesday, August 16, that 'a significant portion of his violations' in this case has not yet been submitted to the court. The sixth session of the court addressing the charges against Mortazavi was held on Saturday, August 1, during which the complaint of Abdolhossein Rouh-al-Amini, the father of Mohsen Rouh-al-Amini, one of the victims of the Kahrizak detention center, was reviewed. Previous court sessions had also addressed the complaint of the Social Security Organization against Mortazavi. Meanwhile, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the spokesperson for the Iranian judiciary, confirmed the issuance of a judicial ruling for Mortazavi, stating that he has been acquitted of 'some charges' and convicted of 'imprisonment and asset recovery' in other cases. However, Mortazavi, in an interview with the Tuesday, August 16 issue of Etemad newspaper, claimed he has not yet received his verdict. He also speculated that he may have been 'acquitted' in the Kahrizak case. The Kahrizak court had previously sentenced Mortazavi, Ali Akbar Heydari Far, and Hassan Zareh Dehnoei (known as Judge Hadad) to permanent dismissal from judicial services and a five-year ban from government services. Abdolhossein Rouh-al-Amini stated that previous rulings against Mortazavi were related to 'illegal detention' and 'false reporting' and that this is the first time his son's murder case is being addressed. Mohsen Rouh-al-Amini, Mohammad Kamrani, and Amir Javadi Far were three young men who were arrested due to their participation in protests following the 2009 presidential election and lost their lives in the Kahrizak detention center due to 'torture and psychological pressure.' In another part of his interview with Etemad newspaper, Mortazavi speculated that he may have been sentenced to return 48 million tomans in the Social Security case. According to Mortazavi, this amount corresponds to his salary received from the Social Security Organization during the period when the Administrative Justice Court declared his leadership of the organization illegal. However, Mustafa Turk Hamdani, the lawyer representing the workers who have filed complaints against Mortazavi in the Social Security case, stated that even if Mortazavi's claims are accurate, it does not mean that all of his convictions for 'crimes and violations' amount to this sum, and 'a significant portion of his violations' in the Social Security Organization has not yet been submitted to the court. According to Turk Hamdani, some of Mortazavi's charges involve the transfer of Shasta companies to Babak Zanjani and the payment of gift cards to the former vice president and some members of parliament, which are still under investigation. He mentioned that he and two other colleagues have filed complaints on behalf of several workers against Mortazavi for 'breach of trust, embezzlement, and disruption of the economic system,' and the prosecutor's office will soon comment on this complaint. Following the publication of the parliamentary investigation report on the Social Security Organization on December 4, 2013, which accused Mortazavi of extensive financial violations amounting to billions of tomans, Mustafa Turk Hamdani, Alireza Daghighi, and Peyman Haj Mahmoud Attar filed complaints against Mortazavi on behalf of several workers. Haj Mahmoud Attar stated in early August 2014 that Mortazavi has ten open cases in the Government Employees Prosecutor's Office. This lawyer identified the complaint filed by Abbas Palizdar, the Kahrizak detention case, the complaint against Fazel Larijani, and the parliamentary investigation complaint against the Social Security Organization as some of Mortazavi's open cases.