The First Session of Hossein Fereydoun's Court Held Privately

The first session of the court for Hossein Fereydoun, brother of Hassan Rouhani, and four other defendants in this case was held on Tuesday morning, February 19, in Branch 1057 of the Government Employees Judicial Complex and was conducted privately. According to a report from the Iranian judiciary, this court session was presided over by Judge Alishah. In this session, which included Hossein Fereydoun and four of his 'associates' along with their lawyers, the prosecutor read the indictment. The second defendant defended himself after the judge explained the charges. The name of the second defendant was not mentioned in the judiciary's report. No further details about this court session were disclosed. Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the spokesperson for the judiciary, stated on Sunday that the judge would decide on the public or private nature of the court sessions. However, journalists were not present at the Tuesday session, and only the judiciary's news agency published photos from the court in which the defendants' images were not clear. The next session is scheduled for next week. Two weeks ago, 20 members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly sent a letter to the head of the judiciary requesting a public trial for Hossein Fereydoun, brother of the President, and Mehdi Jahangiri, brother of the First Vice President. The judiciary spokesperson responded to this letter on Sunday, stating that the indictment was issued on January 22, before the representatives wrote their letter, and that the first session would soon be held in Esfand (March). Ejei announced on July 16, 2017, the arrest of Hossein Fereydoun due to 'financial charges'. The following day, it was reported that Hossein Fereydoun was released on a bail of 50 billion tomans. His connection with Rasoul Danialzadeh, who was arrested for over 2 trillion tomans in debts to banks, is among the charges against Hossein Fereydoun. Mehdi Jahangiri, Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce, was also arrested by the IRGC in Kerman on October 6, 2017, and was released in Esfand of the same year. Jahangiri is the head of a financial group established during Hamid Baqaei's presidency of the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization. Previously, some reformist figures had suggested that an impartial committee investigate the charges against these two individuals as well as Sadegh Larijani and Fazel Larijani, two brothers of the head of the judiciary. Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, the government spokesperson, also stated after the arrest of Hossein Fereydoun that 'this issue should also apply to the head of the judiciary or the legislative branch, and the independent judiciary will act against others just as it did with the President's brother.' Fazel Larijani's name became prominent in late 2012 when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad played a tape of his conversation with Saeed Mortazavi, the then head of the Social Security Organization, in the open session of parliament. In this tape, Larijani suggests to Mortazavi to use his brothers' influence in the government in exchange for some economic advantages. However, the judiciary spokesperson stated last December that no crime had been established against Fazel Larijani in the case of attempting to bribe the Social Security Organization. A decision not to prosecute was also issued in the case of land grabbing by Mohammad Javad Larijani. The 'Bamdad Khabar' website published several 'confidential' documents on June 17, 2012, which referred to 'the illegal occupation of over 342 hectares of national land on the outskirts of Varamin and the illegal keeping of over 900 sheep and 200 camels on the occupied land by Mohammad Javad Larijani.'