صراط عشق صراط عشق
Judiciary Chief Orders Extradition of Embezzlers
TEHRAN (Dispatches) — Iran’s Judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi on Monday ordered the Prosecutor General and the deputy for international affairs at the Judiciary to take “serious measures” to bring back “financially corrupt” individuals who have fled the country.
Raisi made the call while a major corruption case involving a former deputy judiciary chief is being investigated at a court in Tehran and nearly all of Iranian newspapers have been covering the trial on their front pages.
The Judiciary chief said the West is uncooperative in arresting and returning people charged with financial corruption.
Shortly after Raisi’s remarks, deputy Judiciary chief for international affairs Ali Baqeri said some European countries refuse to cooperate with Iran in arresting and repatriating criminals from Europe.
“Some Western countries take advantage of all means to support those who have committed security and economic crimes and, at the same time, are brazenly claiming that they back the Iranian nation,” Baqeri said.
Some European countries, he said, not only refrain from cooperating with Iran for the extradition of fugitive criminals, but also provide them with refuge and citizenship.
“These countries are not simply a safe haven for terrorists who have the blood of the Iranian nation on their hands, but places of refuge for corrupt individuals and embezzlers, who have been stealing the Iranian people’s money.”
Baqeri took the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to task for its biased reports in support of corrupt elements fleeing Iran.
Instead of shedding crocodile tears, the BBC must “urge the British government to give response to all, including the Iranian nation, about why it has turned into the main haven for violators of the Iranian people’s rights,” including their economic rights, he pointed out.
Gholamreza Mansouri, a judge indicted in absentia at a court in Tehran for receiving 500,000 euros in bribes, is said to have taken refuge in Germany.
Mahmoud Reza Khavari, the former head of Iran’s Bank Melli, has fled to Canada where records show he owns a $3 million home.
“How come some of the countries that claim to be fighting organized corruption and money laundering are providing refuge to criminals and corruption suspects?” Raisi asked.
He called on those who have been charged with stealing people’s money in major cases of financial corruption to surrender to law as it is in their interest as well as in the interest of society.
They should never feel safe and think that they can get away with breaking the law, he said.
On Sunday, Iran opened the high-profile trial of a former senior judiciary official alongside 21 accused accomplices in Tehran, charging them with corruption, money laundering and influence trading.
National television broadcast the hearing live, focusing on the accused Akbar Tabari, the former deputy head of administrative affairs at the judiciary.
Tabari “obstructed the execution
Raisi made the call while a major corruption case involving a former deputy judiciary chief is being investigated at a court in Tehran and nearly all of Iranian newspapers have been covering the trial on their front pages.
The Judiciary chief said the West is uncooperative in arresting and returning people charged with financial corruption.
Shortly after Raisi’s remarks, deputy Judiciary chief for international affairs Ali Baqeri said some European countries refuse to cooperate with Iran in arresting and repatriating criminals from Europe.
“Some Western countries take advantage of all means to support those who have committed security and economic crimes and, at the same time, are brazenly claiming that they back the Iranian nation,” Baqeri said.
Some European countries, he said, not only refrain from cooperating with Iran for the extradition of fugitive criminals, but also provide them with refuge and citizenship.
“These countries are not simply a safe haven for terrorists who have the blood of the Iranian nation on their hands, but places of refuge for corrupt individuals and embezzlers, who have been stealing the Iranian people’s money.”
Baqeri took the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to task for its biased reports in support of corrupt elements fleeing Iran.
Instead of shedding crocodile tears, the BBC must “urge the British government to give response to all, including the Iranian nation, about why it has turned into the main haven for violators of the Iranian people’s rights,” including their economic rights, he pointed out.
Gholamreza Mansouri, a judge indicted in absentia at a court in Tehran for receiving 500,000 euros in bribes, is said to have taken refuge in Germany.
Mahmoud Reza Khavari, the former head of Iran’s Bank Melli, has fled to Canada where records show he owns a $3 million home.
“How come some of the countries that claim to be fighting organized corruption and money laundering are providing refuge to criminals and corruption suspects?” Raisi asked.
He called on those who have been charged with stealing people’s money in major cases of financial corruption to surrender to law as it is in their interest as well as in the interest of society.
They should never feel safe and think that they can get away with breaking the law, he said.
On Sunday, Iran opened the high-profile trial of a former senior judiciary official alongside 21 accused accomplices in Tehran, charging them with corruption, money laundering and influence trading.
National television broadcast the hearing live, focusing on the accused Akbar Tabari, the former deputy head of administrative affairs at the judiciary.
Tabari “obstructed the execution
of justice” against influential senior Iranian officials “by forming a criminal group” within his office which “became a center… for certain accused (individuals) to settle their cases,” his indictment said, according to official judiciary news agency Mizan Online.
In March 2019, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei appointed Raisi as the judiciary chief and called on him to work “against corruption”. Raisi dismissed Tabari eight days after taking office.
Raisi vowed to make the fight against corruption in the justice system his “first priority” shortly after coming to power, followed by trials targeting judges and senior officials.
Two former members of parliament were recently sentenced to 61 months in prison for manipulating the country’s auto market.
In March 2019, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei appointed Raisi as the judiciary chief and called on him to work “against corruption”. Raisi dismissed Tabari eight days after taking office.
Raisi vowed to make the fight against corruption in the justice system his “first priority” shortly after coming to power, followed by trials targeting judges and senior officials.
Two former members of parliament were recently sentenced to 61 months in prison for manipulating the country’s auto market.
