Iranian judiciary defends its actions against criticism from lawmakers

Head of Iranian Judiciary, Sadegh Larijani

Sadegh Larijani, Iran’s Head of Judiciary spoke out against the petition signed by 175 MPs to accuse the judiciary of failing to accomplish its duties, and said the judiciary “is always in step with the greater policies of the Islamic Republic.”

The letter, written and signed by 175 Iranian MPs criticizes the judiciary for failing to prosecute the heads of the opposition.

Fars news agency reports that speaking in a meeting of government officials, Larijani denied having delayed in confronting “seditious elements.”

The Head of Judiciary expressed disappointment in receiving such a letter from the Parliament despite his prior explanations to the representatives regarding the judiciary’s policies in dealing with the opposition.

He emphasized: “We are very good at our job and are not prone to procrastination as these gentlemen would like to believe. We have no fear of confronting the heads of sedition.”

He also addressed the letter’s concerns regarding the summoning of managing directors of pro-government newspapers saying: “No one is allowed to insult the heads of government forces and justice applies to all.”

Head of some conservative newspapers such as Keyhan have been summoned to court in connection with a libel lawsuit brought against them by opposition figures.

The Head of Judiciary went on to say that anyone who commits a violation must be held accountable irrespective of their connections.

He declared that writing of such letters is to the detriment of the judiciary and urged the MPs to desist from such actions.

Sadegh Larijani also addressed comments regarding the judiciary’s failure to prosecute big corruption cases saying: “The Supreme Leader has repeatedly stressed on direct confrontation of corruption cases provided that they do not weaken the system.”

A number of websites have reported that the judiciary has stopped pressing corruption charges against Mohammadreza Rahimi, Ahmadinejad’s vice-president, due to orders from the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei.

Elias Naderan, a conservative member of the parliament has announced that Rahimi is the head of large corruption ring; however, the allegations against Rahimi have not materialized into any legal actions.