Iran's head of judiciary slams opposition leaders

Head of Iranian Judiciary, Sadegh Larijani

Head of Iranian Judiciary, Sadegh Larijani told a meeting of clergy in Hamadan that in the post-election events some of the intimates of Ayatollah Khomeini acted even worse than the dissident group, People’s Mojahedin Organization which the Islamic Republic considers as one of its archenemies.

Sadegh Larijani added that the “seditious movement” has not ended yet and it has even caused confusion amongst the “pious.”

He claimed: “We have heard such words and seen such acts from certain individuals in these events, which were beyond our expectations.”

The Iranian opposition is comprised of prominent figures of the Islamic Republic, many of which were close intimates of the founder of the system, the late Ayatollah Khomeini.

The Head of the Judiciary had warned opposition leaders that the judiciary is in possession of enough evidence to initiate their prosecution.

Iran’s Supreme Leader and the pro-Ahmadinejad camp refer to the post-election protests as “sedition.”

Opposition leader, Mohammad Khatami said yesterday: “Rightful protests cannot be labelled as sedition.”

Iranian reformists and opposition leaders contend that the judiciary has not acted with impartiality in the post election events and has lost its independence to security and intelligence institutions.

In the past ten months over five thousand people have been arrested and many of them have received heavy sentences.

Human rights groups reported that the judiciary has issued over 10 execution sentences in connection with post-election protests.