In less than a week, for the second time, former Iranian president and member of the Expediency Council, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, harshly criticized senior officials with "absolute powers" who "despise" Iranian people. He implicitly criticized Ali Khamenei for "failing to respond" to questions on the judiciary. He also referred to the current political debate after "suicide" allegations of environmentalist Kavous Seyed Emami in Evin Prison, stressing that "people do not believe those claims" and criticizing "unjustified arrests".
Seyed-Emami was a defendant in a spying case and had committed suicide because of the weight of evidence against him, an Iranian news agency reported on Sunday.
Ahmadinejad headed his team of advisers to the Iranian court in Tehran on Wednesday morning to support his executive assistant Hamid Bakai during his fourth appearance in court within two months.
According to "Dolat Bahar" website, authorities prevented Ahmadinejad from attending the trial, after which he stood at the court's door to deliver a brief speech on current situations in Iran, criticizing mismanagement, especially that of the Iranian judiciary.
He said no governmental body was responding to complaints against the judiciary, including Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. He wondered which official institution would be accepted and trusted by Iranian people.
Ahmadinejad promised the current situation would end for the benefit of the Iranian people, stressing that "injustice will not last anywhere in the world."
"We want to complain about the judiciary, whom should we refer to? There is no place accepted and trusted by the people, " Ahmadinejad added.
The head of the judiciary is the most prominent official chosen by the Iranian leader in accordance with his constitutional powers. Ahmadinejad's criticism of the judiciary chief has been repeatedly interpreted as criticism of Khamenei's policies.
So far, Khamenei has not addressed the dispute between Ahmadinejad and judiciary chief, Sadiq Larijani, but in December, he blamed former officials who turned into dissidents after they were heads of state in Iran.
A week ago, Ahmadinejad said in a statement posted on his website that brothers Ali and Sadiq Larijani, presiding the judiciary and the parliament, are seeking to attain the positions of supreme leader and president.
Ahmadinejad repeated in his last speech that Iranians had staged a revolution "in order to speak freely in defense of their rights, with the regime and governmental bodies defending the people's right."
He added that the 1979 revolution was for justice, and people's rights, indicating that it did not occur in order for some to have more than what they need, while others can't have the simplest necessities.
Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad's aide Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei tweeted on his account: "On the eve of the 40th anniversary of the Iranian revolution, the prisons are clean, safe and comfortable, to an extent that if anyone went there, they would be happy. There is no difference between being a drug addict or a spy."
Mashaei also published an article on "Dolat Bahar" criticizing the judiciary's stance on the case of Seyed-Emami.
He said: "The judiciary is accused of murder unless proven otherwise."
MP Fatemeh Zolghadr stated that Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi, Tehran’s public prosecutor, ordered the arrest of Emami. She added: "Emami committed suicide after he asked to postpone an investigation session in prison."
Dolatabadi announced that Seyed-Emami had been arrested for espionage, which meant that Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was responsible for his detention in Evin prison. He added that Emami was arrested because he was linked to a CIA officer who also stayed at his home. He accused him of spying on Iran's missile program.
“These individuals have been collecting classified information about the country’s strategic areas under the guise of carrying out scientific and environmental projects,” Dolatabadi said.
The Canadian government said on Tuesday it was “seriously concerned” with the circumstances surrounding the death of Emami who is an Iranian-Canadian dual citizen.
“We are seriously concerned by the situation surrounding the detention and death of Mr. Seyed-Emami,” Canada’s foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, said in a statement.
“We expect the Government of Iran to provide information and answers into the circumstances surrounding this tragedy. We will continue to use every means at Canada’s disposal to seek further information," she added.
Seyed-Emami was the managing director of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation, an organization aimed at protecting Iran’s rare animals, and a US-trained scholar in sociology.
Iranian President's Special Assistant for Citizens' Rights Affairs Shahindokht Molaverdi announced that Rouhani had ordered a full report on recent incidents in Iranian prisons. She reiterated that all citizens have the right to a fair trial, according to ISNA.
