Iran's Head of Judiciary urged to resolve court hearing delays

Sadegh Larijani (second left) meeting with Ayatollah Safi Golpayegani (first left)

Ayatollah Safi Golpayegani, Iranian Shiite leader told Head of Iran’s Judiciary that even one day delay in releasing detainees is not acceptable in Islam.

ILNA reports that Ayatollah Golpayegani expressed his concerns over the interference of external organizations in the judiciary to Sadegh Larijani.

He added: “If external forces interfere in the judiciary and influence the judges and they fail to follow the truth in their sentencing, the independence of the judiciary will be compromised.”

Ayatollah Safi Golpayegani insisted that recent attempts at resolving the problems of the judiciary and aligning it with the provisions of Islam were unacceptable. He maintained “All sentencing and imprisonments should follow the basic laws of Islam.”

He also spoke out against the delays in processing charges and maintained that the judiciary must do its utmost to avoid any delays in processing people’s files.

Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, Head of Iran’s Judiciary visited a number of Shiite leaders in Qom today. In addition to Ayatollah Safi Golpayegani, he also met with Ayatollahs Makarem Shirazi and Shabiri Zanjani.

In the past ten months, thousands of people have been arrested in connection with the protests against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed victory in the June presidential elections.

The files of many of these detainees are up in the air. A large number are being kept in the detention centres of the Ministry of Intelligence and the Revolutionary Guards and their families are unable to gain information about their files.