Spokesperson of the Teachers' Union Protests Judicial Process of His Case

The spokesperson of the Teachers' Union in a letter highlighted his 10-minute trial without the presence of a lawyer, stating that some judges are merely "signers of rulings that have been communicated to them by security forces" instead of providing fair judgment. According to the website Kalemeh, Mahmoud Beheshti, the spokesperson for the Teachers' Union of Tehran Province, emphasized from prison that contrary to the claims of the judiciary spokesperson, he did not use a lawyer at either the primary or appellate stages and was not given any opportunity for defense during the court session, which was presided over by Judge Salavati and lasted less than 10 minutes. Mr. Beheshti noted that the treatment of some revolutionary court judges towards civil-political-union defendants' lawyers is so humiliating that these lawyers prefer to avoid attending such courts. Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the spokesperson for the Iranian judiciary, announced on Sunday, September 17, that Mahmoud Beheshti was sentenced to five years in prison for "security crimes." He claimed that individuals in Iran are not arrested due to their union activities or religion. Despite the approval of the "political crime" law in Iran, officials of the Islamic Republic continue to use the term "security charges" regarding the accusations against political activists, journalists, and union activists. Some judiciary officials have also stated that they do not recognize political crimes. For instance, Hadi Sadeghi, the cultural deputy of the judiciary, stated on June 7, 2016, after the promulgation of the "political crime" law by the Iranian president, that he does not recognize anything called a political crime and that it is not necessary for such a crime to exist. Meanwhile, Mr. Beheshti, in his letter, referred to Article 168 of the Constitution regarding the definition of political crime and stated that he does not consider the revolutionary courts, which were established during the "sensitive conditions at the beginning of the revolution" and should have been dismantled after the establishment of the regime, to be "legitimate and lawful." This union activist called on what he referred to as the "wise men of the nation in the government, parliament, and judiciary" to take appropriate and immediate actions to restore the lost dignity of the judiciary. The political crime law was approved based on Article 168 of the Islamic Republic's Constitution and was promulgated last year after nearly four decades since the Constitution's approval. According to this law, crimes committed "with the motivation of reforming the country's affairs against the management and political institutions or domestic or foreign policies of the country, without the perpetrator intending to harm the essence of the regime, are considered political crimes." However, actions such as "inciting people to separatism, war, and killing and conflict" and "disclosing secrets" are not considered political crimes under this law. The law defines "insulting" officials of the Islamic Republic, "spreading falsehoods," and crimes specified in electoral laws as instances of "political crime." Nevertheless, Mr. Beheshti stated in his letter that despite the law's emphasis on the independence of the judiciary, "some judges, especially in cases where the main complainants are officials and statesmen, are practically signers of rulings that have been drafted by security forces instead of providing fair judgment." According to this union activist, in such conditions, "any criticism of officials leads to the fabrication of cases against critics" and "with the collusion of the complainant and the judge, heavy and unjust sentences are issued against defendants, which are sometimes comparable to those seen in the most backward countries in the world." Many political activists and lawyers in Iran have previously stated that the rulings of the revolutionary court are issued based on the opinions of interrogators, and the judges of this court are executors of the "orders" of security institutions. In recent years, several revolutionary court judges, including Abolqasem Salavati, Mohammad Mogheiseh, and Yahya Pirabbasi, have issued heavy sentences against political activists, student activists, journalists, and union activists.