Ali Khamenei appoints Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, another human rights violator, as the head of the judiciary
1-July-2021
Category: executions، Freedom of Expression، Prisoners
1-July-2021
Newsgroup: Execution, Prisoners, Freedom of Expression –
Breathing in Confinement: On July 7, 2021, Ali Khamenei appointed Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei as the head of the judiciary.
According to Fars News Agency, Ali Khamenei, in his decree, referred to Mohseni Ejei as the one who is “having valuable experiences as well as profound knowledge and a brilliant record in the matter of justice.”
What the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic refers to as a brilliant record in the matter of justice is Mohseni Ejei’s role in the bloody crackdowns after the 2009 presidential election, as the Minister of Intelligence. He has also served as prosecutor of the Special Clerical Court as well as the Minister of Intelligence and Minister of Justice under Ahmadinejad.
European Union in 2011 placed Ejei on its sanctions list and confiscated his assets in Europe, because of his effective role in the widespread human rights violations in Iran, especially violating the rights of prisoners.
According to European Union’s statement, after the 2009 election, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, as Minister of Intelligence, was responsible for detention and torture of and extorting false confessions from thousands of protesters as well as hundreds of dissidents and journalists.
Mohseni Ejei was also the judiciary’s spokesman at the time of beating the political prisoners in Ward 350 of Evin Prison in April 2014, when he, in addition to denying the event, supported the prison officials and threatened the inmates as well as their families to file cases against them and prosecute them for spreading the news about what had happened.
Furthermore, the “final permission” for execution of the prisoners sentenced to death, is being issued by him. He, therefore, has approved many, many death sentences.
In addition, on September 29, 2010, the US Treasury Department sanctioned Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei for his role in serious human rights violations. Under the embargo, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei’s assets were confiscated in the United States and he was barred from entering the United States. The United States citizens also were banned from doing business with him.
US Treasury Department’s statement says: “Qolam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei is currently the Prosecutor General of Iran. As the Minister of Intelligence at the time of the June 2009 election, Mohseni-Ejei has confirmed that he authorized confrontations with protesters and their arrests during his tenure as Minister of Intelligence. As a result, protesters were detained without formal charges brought against them and during this detention detainees were subjected to beatings, solitary confinement, and a denial of due process rights at the hands of intelligence officers under the direction of Mohseni-Ejei. In addition, political figures were coerced into making false confessions under unbearable interrogations, which included torture, abuse, blackmail, and the threatening of family members.”
Ejei also, as the head of the Special Clerical Court, during a press conference with Issa Saharkhiz, the then representative of the press directors, threw a sugar pot at him and bit his right shoulder.
The Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, condemning the assignment of Mohseni Ejei as head of the judiciary, after the appointment of Ebrahim Ra’isi (member of the 1988 death delegate) as Iran’s president, warns that these appointments will lead to deterioration of the situation of human rights in Iran. The Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran also calls on the international community and human rights organizations to prevent gross human rights violations in Iran and to stop the impunity of the authorities of the Islamic Republic from punishment by bringing them to a fair trial.