Said Mortasawi

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Said Mortasawi

Said Mortasawi (also Saeed Mortazavi , Persian سعید مرتضوی; * 1967 in Meybod , Iran ) is an Iranian lawyer, former prosecutor of the Islamic Revolutionary Court and former prosecutor general of the capital Tehran . On March 4, 2012, he was appointed the new director of Iranian Social Security.

Attorney General

Mortasawi, a former judge, was promoted to Tehran's Attorney General on May 18, 2003. This post was vacant for over eight years because Iran abolished prosecutors in 1995. In those years, judges were also public prosecutors.

Execution wave

Said Mortasawi has often been associated with the wave of executions in Iran since 2005 , with the majority of those executed being ordinary people who in almost all cases were accused of being rapists, drug traffickers, thieves, robbers or antisocials, and all within a month Sentenced to death and hung a short time later . In an interview with the Iranian state television IRIB , he said: "We will make Tehran the most unsafe place for murderers and drug traffickers." In Iran, more than 290 people were executed in 2007, placing the state in second place in global statistics after the People's Republic of China Amnesty Internationals is located.

The Zahra Kazemi case

He became known for his involvement in the case of photojournalist Zahra Kazemi , a Canadian of Iranian descent who died in agony two weeks after her arrest in Tehran's Evin Prison in 2003 . Mortasawi ordered her arrest and the use of torture during interrogation , which he was present. After Zahra Kazemi's death, which caused consternation around the world and after which Canada demanded a swift investigation into the case, then-President Mohammad Khatami set up a four-person investigative commission to investigate the circumstances of Kazemi's death, made up of staff from four different ministries. Mortasawi first tried to cover up the circumstances of death: he called on several agencies and newspapers to spread "a stroke" as the cause of death. The investigative commission later announced in its final report that the Canadian-Iranian photojournalist was hit on the head during interrogation, sustaining a severe fracture of the skull and subsequent cerebral haemorrhage in the Baghiyyatollah al-Azam military hospital . In a trial, the outcome of which was previously determined, Mortasawi and everyone else involved in Zahra Kazemi's death, mainly intelligence officials, got away with impunity.

Press

Mortasawi is also known by many Iranians and the Western media as the "butcher of the press or freedom of the press". Since taking office as attorney general in 2003, he has so far closed over 120 daily newspapers and magazines that once or repeatedly criticized the regime and system. In 2005, journalists reported death threats they had received for testifying incriminating Mortasawi. The journalists concerned said they had been tortured while in detention on Mortasawi's orders. The Tehran attorney general denied all guilt at a specially arranged press conference.

The extent to which Mortasawi fights against freedom of expression and freedom of the press is not only evident in the number of arrests of journalists, activists of non-governmental organizations, bloggers and even technical staff on those websites that specialize in the distribution of political content and news; On his instructions, these people have been continuously arrested, interrogated and tortured since 2004. After the closure of newspapers and magazines critical of the regime, Mortasawi also captured the last bastion of freedom of expression, the Internet. A special case was that of Amir Farshad Ebrahimi , an Iranian blogger, journalist and ex- VEVAK secret agent living in Germany , who was to be arrested on vacation in Turkey and extradited to Iran at the request of Iran, in particular Said Mortasawi, before he was released on intervention by the Foreign Office and could return to Berlin.

Student arrests

Since 2006, Mortasawi's orders have arrested students who were subjected to torture during interrogation. The reason for the arrests are student protests on various university campuses against the incumbent Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad .

Iranian websites

On February 15, 2008, Mortasawi reportedly shut down five other Iranian political events websites. As a reason for this measure, he cited "poisoning of the electoral sphere" in relation to the parliamentary elections, which were due in mid-March 2008.

UN Human Rights Council

Many Iranians and outside observers described the delegation sent by the state of Iran in 2006 to participate in the then newly formed UN Human Rights Council , of which Said Mortasawi was a member, as a “peak of cynicism” . Whether Iranians in exile, opposition activists and / or human rights organizations like Human Rights Watch , they all tried to convince Iran to remove it from the list. In addition, other states should not meet with the Iranian delegation while Mortasawi was a member. All efforts were unsuccessful and so the "butcher of the press" attended the meeting. His first meeting, ironically, was with the also controversial Zimbabwean Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa . Mortasawi seized the opportunity and advocated the right of access to high technology, in particular the use of atomic energy for all nations. He admonished the UN Human Rights Council not to allow itself to be made a stooge of the great powers and to avoid human rights violations, which the western (great) powers z. B. committed in the war on terror to investigate. Canada in the person of its Prime Minister Stephen Harper called on Germany to arrest the attorney general on his return flight in Frankfurt am Main .

Crime allegations

On December 19, 2009, Iranian officials admitted that three inmates, Amir Javadifar , Mohammad Kamrani and Mohsen Ruholamini, died in Kahrizak prison on the southern outskirts of Tehran. The three were arrested during demonstrations. Ruholamini is the son of Abdul-Hossein Ruholamini , an adviser to the conservative presidential candidate Mohsen Rezai . Twelve prison staff were charged with crimes, including murder.

The Iranian parliament appointed a committee to investigate the events. As a result, in January 2010 the committee published a report that said Said Mortasawi was responsible for these incidents. Human Rights Watch's Middle East director , Joe Stork , described Mortasawi as a regular serial human rights abuser and called on the Iranian parliament to extend the investigation into Mortasawi's past.

On February 3, 2013, Mortasawi was arrested for no reason.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://shooresh1917.blogspot.com/2009/07/who-is-mortazavi-executioner-who-gives.html ( Memento from July 8, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ a b Hadi Ghaemi: For Iran, the Man is the Message . In: New York Times , June 29, 2006; Retrieved on: August 7, 2008
  3. ↑ Iran: The torture was worth it . alischirasi.blogsport.de; Retrieved March 10, 2012
  4. ↑ Middle East: Iran: Top Prosecutor . In: New York Times , May 1, 2003; Retrieved on: August 7, 2008
  5. ↑ Holger Hettinger, Martin Ebbing: Execution Wave in Iran . In: Deutschlandradio Kultur , August 7, 2007; Retrieved on: August 7, 2008
  6. ^ Death penalty: mass execution on the gallows in Tehran . Welt Online , July 27, 2008; Retrieved on: October 19, 2015
  7. ↑ Haideh Daraghi, Arne Ruth: Death in the torture cell . In: Die Zeit , No. 14/2005, p. 8
  8. ↑ a b Bahman Nirumand : Death after torture during interrogation . In: taz , July 22, 2003; Retrieved August 7, 2008
  9. ^ The Zahra Kazemi case: contradicting statements and conflicts between reformists and hardliners make it difficult to solve the murder . Reporters Without Borders , September 2, 2003; Retrieved August 7, 2008
  10. ↑ Ahmad Taheri: The Enigmatic Death of Tehran . In: FAZ , July 18, 2003; Retrieved on: August 7, 2008
  11. ↑ Martin Ebbing: "Iran: The process surrounding the death of Zahra Kazemi / Part 1-3" In: Mebb.de . Status: July 19, 2004. URL: mebb.de  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. mebb.de  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. mebb.de (accessed on: August 7, 2008)@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.mebb.de   @1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.mebb.de  
  12. ^ Justice farce in Iran: the photographer's murder trial ended abruptly . Spiegel Online , July 18, 2004; Retrieved August 7, 2008
  13. ↑ Executions in Iran - Power or Weakness? Attempt to enforce Islamic moral concepts . In: NZZ , August 11, 2007; Retrieved on: August 7, 2008
  14. ↑ Iran: Journalists Receive Death Threats After Testifying . Human Rights Watch , Jan. 6, 2005; Retrieved August 7, 2008
  15. ↑ Iran: Like the Dead in their Coffins: Torture, Detention, and the Crushing of Dissent in Iran . Human Rights Watch , May 1, 2008; Retrieved August 7, 2008
  16. ^ A b c False Freedom: Online Censorship in the Middle East and North Africa: Iran . Human Rights Watch , November 2005; Retrieved on: August 7, 2008
  17. ↑ ”Iranian Justice Closes Persian Blog and Orkut ” In: BBC Farsi . Status: January 9, 2005. URL: bbc.co.uk (accessed on: August 7, 2008)
  18. ↑ "Amir Farshad Ebrahimi arrested - category: distorted images" In: R-Archiv.de . Status: March 28, 2008. URL: r-archiv.de (accessed on: August 7, 2008)
  19. ↑ ”AA achieves the release of Amir Farshad Ebrahimi - rubric: General” In: R-Archiv.de . Status: March 30, 2008. URL: r-archiv.de (accessed on: August 7, 2008)
  20. ↑ Jörg Lau: "Ahmadinejad is bullied by students" In: Die Zeit -Weblog . Status: February 11, 2007. URL: blog.zeit.de (accessed on: August 7, 2008)
  21. ^ "Judiciary Orders Students to Solitary Confinement" In: Roozonline.net . Status: August 23, 2007. URL: - ( Memento of the original from May 2, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on: August 7, 2008) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.roozonline.com
  22. ^ Hossein Bastani: “A Week of Power Maneuvers” In: Roozonline.com . Status: September 1, 2007. URL: - ( Memento of the original from July 4, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on: August 7, 2008) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.roozonline.com
  23. ^ Hossein Bastani: Protesting Students are in Danger . ( Memento of the original from July 4, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Roozonline.com, October 22, 2007; Retrieved August 7, 2008 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.roozonline.com
  24. ↑ Hassan Zaredzadeh Ardeshir: "From Regimespokesperson to Demands for democray" In: Roozonline.com . Status: December 20, 2006. URL: - ( Memento of the original from June 16, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on: August 7, 2008) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.roozonline.com
  25. ↑ Golnaz Esfandiari: Iran: Families Of Detained Students Describe Abuse In Prison . Radio Free Europe - Radio Free Liberty, July 25, 2007; Retrieved August 7, 2008
  26. ↑ Thomas Pany: Ahmadinejad as a pig . In: Telepolis , December 21, 2006; Retrieved August 7, 2008
  27. ↑ Nasser Karimi: Iran shuts 5 websites . In: USA Today , February 15, 2008; Retrieved on: August 7, 2008
  28. ↑ Maziar Radmanesh:دادستان تهران: علت پیشرفت من "تقواح" است. ( Memento of the original from June 2, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Roozonline.com, July 26, 2007; Retrieved August 7, 2008 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.roozonline.com
  29. ↑ a b c Nasrin Alavi: Tehran shows human rights the red card .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. openDemocray.net, translated into Qantara.de , June 23, 2006.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 7, 2008@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / text.qantara.de  @1@ 2Template: Toter Link / text.qantara.de  
  30. ↑ "Mortazavi: Iran intents to closely cooperate with the UN Human Rights Council" In: Islamic Republic News Agency . Status: June 20, 2006. URL: - ( Memento of the original from July 2, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on: August 7, 2008) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.irna.ir
  31. ↑ Canada: Berlin is supposed to arrest Iranians . In: Der Tagesspiegel . Status: June 24, 2006; Retrieved on: November 25, 2014
  32. ↑ Germany asked to arrest Iran's attorney general . ( Memento of October 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) 123recht.net, June 23, 2006; Retrieved August 7, 2008
  33. ^ Robert F. Worth: Iran Charges 12 at Prison Over Death of Protesters . In: The New York Times , December 20, 2009. Retrieved May 7, 2010. 
  34. ↑ Iran Releases 140 Prisoners, Closes Prison in Nod to Allegations of Abuse . In: Fox News . July 28, 2009. Archived from the original on January 27, 2011. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved February 9, 2011. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.foxnews.com
  35. ↑ a b Human Rights Watch , January 13, 2010: Iran: Prosecute Mortazavi for Detention Deaths
  36. ↑ spiegel.de Arrest in Tehran: Power struggle in Iran escalates , accessed on February 5, 2013
personal data
SURNAME Mortasawi, Said
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Iranian prosecutor
DATE OF BIRTH 1967
PLACE OF BIRTH Meybod , Iran