Judiciary, ministry criticize media coverage of recent scandals
Washington, 1 July (IranVNC)—The Judiciary Spokesperson Alireza Jamshidi today criticized the media coverage of the Palizdar economic corruption scandal, saying that the Judiciary objected to media write-ups on the case of “Palizdar and his clique”.
By: IranVNC
Published: Tuesday, July 01, 2008
ZANJAN – PALIZDAR
Washington, 1 July (IranVNC)—The Judiciary Spokesperson Alireza Jamshidi today criticized the media coverage of the Palizdar economic corruption scandal, saying that the Judiciary objected to media write-ups on the case of “Palizdar and his clique”.
Jamshidi, who was speaking at a news conference today in Tehran, said that the dossier of Abbas Palizdar was “separate” from discussions surrounding the investigation of the Judiciary’s performance by a Majlis review committee but that “some individuals are trying to link the two issues to each other with the aim of derailing the course of the dossier,” Mehr News Agency reports.
Jamshidi’s remarks come 20 days after the arrest of Abbas Palizdar - a former researcher of the Majlis Investigation and Research Committee, who revealed how allegedly high-ranking political and religious figures in the country had exploited their positions and influence to engage in corrupt economic activities.
Palizdar’s arrest on charges of “disturbing the public mind” and “slander” by a tribunal dealing with state employees, came as conservative and pro-government media mounted a concerted attack against him, divulging that he himself was a corrupt person.
Jamshidi told reporters today that so far, 13 of Palizdar’s “clique” had been arrested and that all individuals connected to and involved in the dossier - whoever they were and whatever positions they held in the three branches of power – would be examined and investigated.
Jamshidi then gave some details about how confidential information was obtained by Palizdar and his contacts, saying that they used an expert computer hacker to access classified information from files, which they then copied and photographed; they also managed to remove original documents from dossiers, some of which they returned and others which they photocopied and hid. Parts of these documents were later found in the provinces.
The “revelations of Abbas Palizdar” case has so far brought about the arrest of the chief administrator of the State Inspectorate Organization [SIO], the interrogation of some Majlis deputies by the public prosecutor, a house raid, summons issued by the Judiciary against members of the Majlis investigation committee, and the re-assignment, last Saturday [28 June], of Mohammad Niyazi, from his post as head of the SIO to an officer in the State Supreme Court on charges that he had “removed thousands of classified documents” from the SIO. And today, Zarandi, the deputy head of the SIO was removed from this post and transferred to the Judicial Organization of the Armed Forces.
Also today, Mohammad Mehdi Zahedi, the minister of education, also criticized the way the domestic press and media had handled the Zanjan University incident and said that these media had acted “politically” in a bid to “weaken” the government.
On 21 May, students at Zanjan University took part in a sit-in lasting for five days, in protest against the behaviour of the deputy head of the university, Hasan Madadi, who, they said was sexually harassing one of the female students. The students caught the official off guard in his office with the girl and proceeded to film him. They then posted the film on the Internet. After widescale demonstrations by students, the dean of the university formally apologized to them and gave in to student demands, which included the dismissal of Madadi.
Following this, the country’s hardline press accused the protesting students of “disseminating corruption”.
Speaking to reporters today, Zahedi referred to an interview he gave last week, during which he said that the move by the students to expose the immoral behaviour of a university official was “cowardly”. He added: “I also said in my interview that the existence of a photograph [showing a girl] without her headscarf does not constitute reason that an offence has been perpetration…Is the manner in which those who disseminated the [video] footage acceptable or not from the standpoint of the Shari’a? This should not have taken place and you should not have reflected it in your media in the manner you did,” E’temad news site quotes him as saying.
Zahedi went on to say that the incident had been “exploited” by many people and that, on the whole, it was likely to be a “plot”.
“The issue could be a plot against this lecturer [Madadi] and right now the case is being investigated by the public prosecutor,” Amir Kabir website reports Zahedi as saying.
Last night, local branches of different political groups and parties in Gilan Province, northern Iran, issued a joint statement referring to various incidents that have occurred lately in some of the country’s universities, notably in the universities of Zanjan, Sistan-va-Baluchestan and Lahijan, and calling for the resignation of Education Minister Zahedi. The statement says that the “theoreticians” of the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have, on the pretext that the universities are not adequately “Islamic”, paved the way for the “purge” of lecturers, the suspension of students and other such measures, which “jeopardize the lives and honour of students”.
Sources: E’temad website, Amir Kabir University student newsletter website, Mehr News Agency
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