Tehran Prosecutor: 3 Individuals Charged in Case of Insulting the President Identified

Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the Tehran prosecutor, announced on Sunday, July 2, that reports and information regarding the "defendants insulting the President during the International Quds Day rally in Tehran" have been sent to the prosecutor's office, stating: "Three of the defendants in this case have been identified, and the others are expected to be introduced as well." According to reports, during Quds Day, a group shouted slogans such as "Death to the hypocrite" and "Rouhani, congratulations on your connection with Banisadr" around Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, which led to significant media coverage in Iran. The state news agency IRNA reported that the Tehran prosecutor indicated that the Ministry of Intelligence's reports will be referred to one of the investigative branches, adding: "It has been falsely claimed that the investigations conducted in this regard were without a warrant." He stated that "investigations were carried out with judicial authorization in the prosecutor's offices" and added: "If an individual was directed to a center at certain hours, it was not without permission, and the media should not create an atmosphere in favor of any individual or specific faction." Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi urged the media to allow "the case to proceed through its course" and for the prosecutor's office to handle the case with accuracy and diligence. Previously, the Tehran prosecutor's office had described this action as a "flagrant crime," and several officials from Hassan Rouhani's government, as well as Ali Motahari, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, had called for action against those who insulted the Iranian President. In this context, according to IRNA, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi deemed any "atmosphere creation" regarding this issue as "distorted" and stated: "It should not be implied that there is no right to criticize for anyone." The Tehran prosecutor's remarks regarding the investigations being conducted with judicial authorization came at a time when Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the spokesperson for the judiciary, had denied reports about the "arrest" of two journalists from the Fars News Agency on July 1. However, following these statements, Fars News Agency reported that its two journalists had been summoned by a "government security agency" and were told that their arrest warrant had been "issued and if they did not appear, they would be arrested at their residence." According to the report, these two Fars journalists visited one of the Ministry of Intelligence buildings last Tuesday and Wednesday and were interrogated there until the evening, and they were asked to return to the same location at 10 AM on Thursday. This news agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, stated that despite the judiciary spokesperson's comments about no arrest warrant being issued for its two journalists, the Ministry of Intelligence had interrogated these journalists "without judicial authorization," and this action was "certainly against the law." Reports indicate that in recent years, particularly after the protests against the results of the 2009 presidential election, the Ministry of Intelligence and the IRGC's Intelligence Organization have summoned hundreds of political activists, journalists, and civil activists without judicial warrants, either by phone to their main buildings or to locations in Tehran that have no signage, and interrogated them. Meanwhile, several political activists have been arrested without judicial warrants, with their arrest warrants being presented to them only after their arrest. Fars News Agency and other media affiliated with the IRGC have defended the actions of the Ministry of Intelligence and the IRGC in arresting political activists critical of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government in recent years and have published forced confessions of several political prisoners. In this context, Fars News Agency stated that it had asked its two journalists not to visit the Ministry of Intelligence on Thursday, "to clarify under which judicial warrant agents of this agency summoned and interrogated these two journalists, and if any illegal actions are identified, it reserves its right to pursue legal action." Earlier, some Telegram channels close to Hassan Rouhani had accused Mr. Talebi of "organizing" protests against Hassan Rouhani during the Quds Day rally, but he had denied this accusation prior to his arrest. In this regard, Fars News Agency deemed the summoning and interrogation of its two journalists as "against the law." The Deputy Governor of Tehran announced the "general identification" of those who insulted Rouhani. The government rally for "Quds Day" was held with slogans against Saudi Arabia and Hassan Rouhani.