Source: International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran
Asked whether investigations into the case of Kahrizak
murders, in which Saeed Mortazavi had a serious presence, could
follow his recent arrest, Ebadi said, "It depends on the political
will of those in power. In other words, Mortazavi's arrest has not
been for justice, but to settle political scores; because if it were
for justice, Mr. Mortazavi would have been in prison several years
ago." Photo Credit: Arash Ashoorinia, Kosoof.com
|
Following the arrest of Saeed Mortazavi, Tehran's former press court judge
and prosecutor, Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi told the International
Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, "The timing and the manner of arrest of Saeed
Mortazavi, a suspect in the Kahrizak Detention Center case and the Zahra Kazemi
murder case, once again showed that the Judiciary has lost its independence and
is not capable of carrying out justice."
Mortazavi, currently the acting head of Iran's Social
Security Organization, was arrested Tuesday and detained for 24 hours
following a public expose by President Ahmadinejad during an impeachment session
at the Iranian Parliament. "When more important and heavier charges were
directed at Mr. Mortazavi, the safety provided for him did not make it possible
to bring him to justice, but some time later when political issues caused the
two insider groups to confront each other, because Mortazavi was being supported
by the group that was confronting the Judiciary, the time for his arrest came
about," said Ebadi adding that, "Once again lack of independence by the
Judiciary and its consistent subordination to the intelligence agents has been
proven."
Asked whether investigations into the case of Kahrizak murders, in which
Saeed Mortazavi had a serious presence, could follow his recent arrest, Ebadi
said, "It depends on the political will of those in power. In other words,
Mortazavi's arrest has not been for justice, but to settle political scores;
because if it were for justice, Mr. Mortazavi would have been in prison several
years ago."
"Mr. Mortazavi's most important, almost-proven charge is his interference in
the case of Zahra Kazemi, in which according to a report prepared and published
by the Sixth Iranian Parliament [2000-2004], he misused his office to prevent
proper investigation into this case, a case in which he was a suspect himself.
Another issue is his role in the case of the Kahrizak Detention Center and the
torture and murders that took place there. Regrettably, these charges were never
reviewed and at the time, security forces wouldn't allow the Judiciary to do its
job, and now that it is time to settle political scores, not only is no
reference made to Mortazavi's prior charges, according to the Fars News Agency's
report he was arrested for misappropriation of state assets. When all this
information is put together, a logical answer comes out and that is that the
Judiciary has lost its independence and is no longer able to carry out justice,"
said Ebadi, who is also a co-founder of the Defenders of Human Rights Center.
"Our evaluation of Mortazavi's arrest is that because the Judiciary has lost
its independence, and as he was never arrested, prosecuted, and investigated
when the case of Zahra Kazemi and the other charges against him were in the
forefront, they are now after him to settle political scores. Our expectation of
the judicial system is its independence and implementation of justice, which I
must say, under the current circumstances, I am hopeless about. I expressly
declare to the people of Iran that there is no [independent] Judiciary in Iran;
the Judiciary is a subsidiary of the Intelligence Ministry," said Ebadi
regarding how she and other human rights activists view these developments.
... Payvand News - 02/11/13 ... --
