The battle of corruption touched the doors of the judiciary in Iran

Mustafa Al-Saadi

There was a lot of talk about rampant corruption in state departments, and even the judiciary, where the Iranian people used to wake up some days to news of corruption in the country, and that news was related to some people who embezzled large amounts, some of which amounted to trillions of tomans, and these were either personalities with great responsibilities in state institutions such as Mr. Hankiri, the brother of the Vice President of the Republic, Eshaq Jahangiri, or Hossein Fereydoun, the brother of the President of the Republic, Hassan Rouhani. Accusations were also leveled at some individuals in the judiciary, including judges and influential figures with great responsibilities in the judiciary.

Mr. Ibrahim Raisi, a member of the Assembly of Experts and the former Inspector General, as well as the former Public Prosecutor, and before that he was Sadan Razavi. He also participated in the 2017 elections alongside Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, where one of his campaign slogans was the war against rampant corruption in state institutions. Amoli Larijani (brother of Ali Larijani, former Speaker of Parliament). It is worth noting that the Chief Justice is installed by the Supreme Leader every five years, subject to extension.

After the advent of Mr. Ibrahim Raisi and his assumption of the presidency of the judiciary in Iran, a new chapter began in standing up to corruption. Raisi announced that his first and most important mission is to eliminate the corruption that exists among the influential and at the beginning of some of the influential in the judiciary, and accordingly he began work to monitor and expose many corrupt judges and remove them or issue penalties against them, but the most that can be mentioned is the removal of one of the important figures at the level of the judiciary, as a prelude to his trial:

Akbar Tabari

He is the executive assistant to the chief justice and director of finance for the judiciary institution at the time of Sheikh Sadeq Amoli Larijani, the former head of the Iranian judiciary.

Akbar Tabari has several responsibilities in his career, including the governor of the city of Mahmoudabad in Mazandaran province in northern Iran, as well as the director of finance for the judiciary institution, and finally the executive assistant to the president of the Iranian judiciary, in addition to his previous responsibility, which is the director of finance for the judiciary institution. Many accusations and doubts were raised about him during his tenure in the judiciary, and he was tried during the presidency of Sheikh Sadeq Amoli Larijani regarding his accusations, but he was acquitted of the charges against him and returned to his job and continued until Sheikh Larijani was replaced by Mr. Ibrahim Raisi.

Zakani, a member of the Iranian parliament, described him as one of the former members of the People's Mojahedin Organization, as he was arrested after the revolution and then released. After his release, he went to work in government jobs in the Mazandaran province and began to assume greater responsibilities through the friendship he established with many.

  He was dismissed by the new head of the judiciary, Mr. Ebrahim Raisi, seven days after the latter took over the position of the head of the judiciary in Iran, and then arrested him months later and referred him to the judiciary, where he was detained and a lengthy investigation began regarding his relations and connections and the money he owned, and many charges were brought against him.

Among the charges against him that can be referred to are participating in the formation and management of a network of bribery and taking cash bribes in large amounts as well as non-monetary ones, such as taking a luxurious villa in the city of Babolsar, appropriating a number of lands, money laundering, and influencing the course of some judicial cases by exercising his influence in the judiciary institution.

Other people who were in Akbar Tabari's case are a number of wealthy people and judges, including Judge Gholamreza Mansouri, Mustafa Niazazari, Rasul Daniyalzadeh and others.

Gholamreza Mansouri

He is one of the judges, and he was accused of taking a bribe of 500,000 euros. Judge Ghulam Reza Mansouri was spending time outside Iran during the first session of Akbar Tabari’s trial. Judge Ghulam Reza Mansouri, who is hiding from Iran, announced that he would return to attend the trial sessions. Travel due to the corona pandemic this delivery is delayed. Before the handover took place, on the nineteenth of June 2020, it was announced that Judge Ghulam Reda Mansouri had committed suicide in mysterious circumstances by throwing himself out of the window of the hotel in which he was being held.

Mustafa Niazazari

Mostafa Niazazari is one of the defendants, and he fled Iran immediately after the arrest of Tabari. He is one of those accused, along with Tabari, of establishing a bribery network. He is also accused of giving (5) plots of land as a bribe to Akbar Tabari in the city of Babelser, Mazandaran Province, northern Iran.

Mustafa Niazazari's relationship with Tabari dates back to 2012, when Niazazari was arrested on charges of disturbing the economic system in Iran, where Akbar Tabari exercised his influence not to convict Niazazari and to declare the latter innocent of the charges against him.

Messenger Daniel Zadeh

He is a general manager of a steel company and owes Iranian banks an amount of approximately (4) trillion tomans. He is one of the people who obtained services from Akbar Tabari when cases were raised concerning Daniel Zadeh related to what he owes to Iranian banks, where a decision was issued to prevent him from being followed.

His trial, along with 17 other persons, began on June 7, 2020, when the Public Prosecutor brought the following charges against Akbar Tabari:

1. Participate in the formation and management of a bribery network.

2. Accepting a bribe of 8 billion tomans from Hasan Najafi.

3. Acquisition of a land of 300 square meters in Karim Khan Street.

4. Acquisition of land with an area of 1657 square meters in the Lavasan district of Tehran.

5. Facilitation in obtaining an amount of 100 thousand euros.

6. Seizing an apartment that used to be an administrative office with an area of 108 square meters.

7. Money laundering by transferring a cash amount into shares in the cement company, amounting to 4 billion and 200 million tomans.

8. Accepting a bribe in the amount of more than 18 billion tomans from Rasul Daniyalzadeh.

9. Obtaining a villa in Babolsar with a bribe title.

10. Money laundering by transferring two apartments in Rome to Farhad Sheikh.

11. Money laundering by transferring the villa belonging to Mustafa Niaz Azari to Mrs

      Hakima Shermohammadi.

12. Forgery and use of forged documents in the case of Mustafa Niazazari.

13. Influencing, exercising influence and exploiting state officials in the case of Rasul Daniyalzadeh.

14. Acquisition of three apartments from Rasul Daniyalzadeh in Flora Tower.

15. Influencing and exercising influence in the impeachment case of Weria Mullanai.

16. Influence and Acts of Influence in the Ali Dewandari Case.

Mr. Akbar Tabari rejected these accusations and said that he had served the judiciary for (20) years and rejected such accusations. He described some of the other defendants, Kafrhad Sheikh and Hassan Najafi, as his brothers, and they are ready to give him (80) billion tomans instead of 8 billion. Where the representative of the Public Prosecution replied to him that Mr. Tabari is honest in his claim because he is the lover of the hearts of the defendants in the economic matter.

Mr. Tabari's trial sessions lasted for nearly three months, after which he was convicted and sentenced to 31 years in prison, in addition to the confiscation of the money he obtained through bribery, as well as a fine of (100) billion tomans, and his permanent dismissal from work in government jobs.

Hossein Fereydoun (brother of the Iranian president)

He is the brother of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, and he was accused of accepting a bribe of (31) billion tomans. His trial began, he was convicted, and he was sentenced to five years in prison, in addition to a cash fine, and the aforementioned bribe must be handed over. The judiciary spokesman said at the time that having a relationship with any government official does not prevent that person from being held accountable.

Mehdi Jahangiri (brother of Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri)

He is one of the owners of capital and the founders of an Iranian bank. He was accused of smuggling hard currency and collecting money through illegal actions. He was convicted of both charges. He was sentenced to two years in prison for smuggling hard currency and returning the amount estimated at (607) thousand euros and (108) thousand dollars in addition to a fine equal to four times the amount previously mentioned. In the charge of collecting money from illegal business in amounts estimated at (45) billion tomans, he was also sentenced to two years imprisonment.