Iranian judiciary bans reformist groups

Iran's Prosecutor-General, Gholamhosein Mohseni Ejei

Gholamhosein Mohseni Ejei, Iran’s Prosecutor-General announced that the two reformist parties, Islamic Iran Participation Front and the Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution have been banned by the judiciary.

Mohseni Ejei told reporters at a press conference: “The Political Parties Commission has halted the activities of these two parties and announced that they are prohibited from political activity. They also called on the judiciary to disband the two parties in view of the documents that were presented against them. Thus their file was taken to the judiciary and the court has decided that two parties must be dissolved and do not have the right to continue their activities.”

The ministry of interior rescinded the licence of these two reformist organizations in March. Islamic Iran Participation Front filed a complaint with the judiciary which was rejected in June.

Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution was founded in 1991 and Islamic Iran Participation Front, in 1998. Several of their founding and senior members were arrested in the post-election turmoil and many of them have been sentenced to long prison terms for supporting the opponents of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Iran’s Prosecutor General also noted that the court has issued the death penalty for Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani.

Mohammadi Ashtiani was accused of “adultery” and “murder of her husband.” Earlier she was sentenced to stoning but following widespread international protests, the stoning sentence was suspended.

Mohseni Ejei also stated that the “leaders of sedition” (a term the Islamic Republic establishment uses for the opposition leaders MirHosein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi) will have to be prosecuted “if they do not repent.”

The two opposition leaders are currently under severe pressure from the government to take back their allegations of vote fraud in the 2009 elections. The government has refrained from arresting them so far in order to avoid re-igniting the street protests which shook Tehran last summer.

Tehran’s Prosecutor-General also referred to the three judges that were suspended in connection with the scandalous events at Kahrizak Detention Centre last summer. He maintained that the charges against these judges have not yet been established.

Last year, scores of election protesters were taken to Kahrizak where they were severely abused and tortured and at least three detainees were even killed in the process.

The Detention Centre was closed down when the news leaked out and after persistent public protests some of the guards were prosecuted and sentenced in the case.

Many have however insisted that the prosecutor of Tehran at the time and the judges of the case were also at fault in these events.