The Perpetrators of the Attack on Ali Motahari Were 'Military Personnel'

While Ali Motahari had previously implied that the attackers against him in Shiraz and their 'commanders' were affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), his lawyer also reported that the 'commanders' of the attack on his client held 'military positions', and the second part of this case is 'under investigation' by the military prosecutor's office in Fars province. Mustafa Turkhamdani announced on Sunday, April 22, in an interview with the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) that this case is in the 'preliminary investigation' stage by the 'judicial authority' and will be referred to the prosecutor after completion. He did not provide more details about this case and its 'judicial authority'. The Ministry of Intelligence, the IRGC, and the Law Enforcement Force are among the institutions considered 'judicial authorities' of the judiciary. Ali Motahari's lawyer had also reported last Esfand that the second phase of the court regarding the attack on his client in Shiraz is 'on the agenda of the military prosecutor's office'. Mr. Motahari had previously implicitly identified some of his attackers as affiliated with the IRGC and stated that they had 'organizational orders'. Mr. Turkhamdani also stated on Sunday that despite the 'lenient court ruling' regarding the attackers of Mr. Motahari, his client did not appeal the ruling, but the attackers have appealed 'even this lenient ruling'. The court regarding the attack on Ali Motahari in Shiraz on March 9, 2015, sentenced six of his attackers to two years in prison and 10 lashes 'suspended', and two other attackers to four and a half months in prison and 37 lashes 'suspended', which have been suspended for two years and one year. In contrast, the student who invited Mr. Motahari was fined one million tomans for 'aiding in refusing university orders and laws by inviting Ali Motahari and facilitating a speech', and two university administrators were sentenced to two years of suspension from service, one of whom also received a two-year suspension. In 'suspended sentences', if the defendant is not convicted of a similar crime during the period set by the court, the issued sentence will not be executed. Announcement of Ali Motahari's candidacy for the vice-presidency of the tenth parliament. On the other hand, Ali Motahari announced that he intends to run for the vice-presidency of the tenth parliament in the elections of the parliament's board of directors. Mr. Motahari, who has been a representative of Tehran in the eighth parliament, was elected as the second representative of Tehran in the tenth parliament with more than 1,447,000 votes. Mohammad Hassan Abutorabi, the vice president of the ninth parliament, did not make it to the tenth parliament, and Mohammad Reza Bahonar, another vice president of the parliament, also did not run in the tenth parliament elections.