Shooting at Tehran's Justice Palace; Judges Maghiseh and Razini Killed

Mohammad Maghiseh and Ali Razini, prominent judges of the Supreme Court, were shot dead in their office at Tehran's Justice Palace on Saturday morning, January 29. Moments after the first reports of the shooting emerged, the media center of the judiciary announced that 'an armed infiltrator in the Supreme Court carried out a planned assassination of two judges.' The judiciary stated in its announcement that 'according to initial investigations, the individual in question had neither a case in the Supreme Court nor was he a visitor to the court's branches.' According to the report, the assailant 'quickly committed suicide' after shooting the Supreme Court judges. Meanwhile, Rokna news agency reported that 'an infiltrating service worker carried out the act using the weapon of the bodyguard, injuring the bodyguard with a knife and then executing the shooting.' An hour after the incident, the judiciary spokesperson provided details of the attack, stating that the assailant 'armed with a handgun entered the room' of the two prominent judges and after the shooting 'immediately committed suicide while fleeing, and we cannot currently discuss his motives.' Mehr news agency also reported that in addition to the deaths of Maghiseh and Razini, Judge Meyri was also injured in the attack. The state news agency IRNA reported that Razini and Maghiseh were targeted 'in their office' and 'a consultant from the Supreme Court was also present at the scene who took cover under the table during the shooting.' This news agency also confirmed that the assailant 'had neither a case in the Supreme Court nor was he a visitor to the court's branches.' In front of Tehran's Justice Palace, an hour after the shooting, ILNA news agency reported that the Supreme Court building was evacuated, and according to one of the military commanders, several employees of the Justice Palace were arrested by the prosecutor's order following the incident. However, the judiciary's media center denied this news. Fars news agency also reported that a bodyguard was injured and taken to the hospital following the shooting. This news agency stated that the assailant 'was one of the service staff.' Mohammad Maghiseh was one of the heads of the Supreme Court and was responsible for the trials of many political prisoners, including supporters of the Green Movement who were arrested after the 2009 presidential election in Iran. He had been sanctioned by the European Union and the United States for human rights violations against the Iranian people. According to calculations from the Iran Prison Atlas website, Judge Maghiseh had issued prison sentences totaling 1,653 years in 335 cases in recent years. Maghiseh; a man seeking to buy his afterlife with heavy sentences. Ali Razini was also the head of Branch 41 of the Supreme Court and involved in the trials of the summer 1988 executions. Razini had previously served as the Tehran Revolutionary Prosecutor from 1984 to 1986 and then held other judicial positions, including head of the Judicial Organization of the Armed Forces, head of Tehran's General Court, head of the Administrative Justice Court, representative of Hamadan Province in the fourth Assembly of Experts, head of the Special Court for Clergy, and legal deputy of the head of the judiciary. Ali Razini was also targeted in an assassination attempt in January 1999 when he was wounded but survived. At that time, while he was the head of the Tehran judiciary, he was attacked by motorcyclists who placed a magnetic bomb on his vehicle as he was leaving work on the night of the 18th of Ramadan, resulting in injuries. The Islamic Republic's judiciary news agency reported the deaths of these two well-known clerics simultaneously, stating: 'In the past year, extensive actions have been taken by the judiciary regarding the identification, pursuit, arrest, and prosecution of elements affiliated with Israel and 'American agents, spies, and terrorist groups.' Meanwhile, no group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, and no information has been released about the identity of the assailant.