After much maneuvering, Tehran’s prosecutor changed hands from the infamous Saeed Mortezavi to Sadegh Larijani. Jaafari, who is known to belong to behind the scene lobbies, has been instrumental in resolving tribal differences in southern Tehran in recent years.
The new Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jaafari Dolatabadi was born in 1953 and holds a Master’s degree in law. Prior to his new post, he was the held of the judiciary in Khuzestan province and also the head of the family court. In recent months, he said make public comments on women, judgments, and the security of judges, which has prompted different responses from the public. As recently as on August 19, 2009, while launching a new general court in Shavar, Dolatabadi stressed on observing the rights of people. “The protection of general rights and the role of the public occupy a special place in the Islamic system,” he said, continuing, “When oil spills into a river and destroys the environment and the pubic, this should be taken seriously. People expect officials to be serious in protecting their environment. The implementation of justice and equality before the law are principles that come from the constitution and Islam and therefore the weak must not feel that they have no place in the judiciary. The judiciary views justice within the law to be clear, transparent, practical and attainable. This does not translate into not cooperating with other government agencies.”
Regarding the independence of judges, he has said, “When people watch the behavior of a judge, they see this as a reflection of the behavior of the state.”
Regarding women’s rights in courts, Dolatabadi has said, “There must be more activities in the cultural domain. Currently, the media spends more energy advertising food etc than what Islam says about treating women and the advice of the Prophet regarding women.”
The prosecutor has expressed his views regarding the independence of judges in these words: “Some legal scholars define security to be the peace of mind which allows people to live comfortably live. There are two necessary conditions for security. First, the security of the person against any arrest, detention, imprisonment and unlawful arbitrary assault. Second, the attainment of security through government action which is responsible for providing it in all spheres while people too have the responsibility not to trespass on the security of others.”
He further stressed that according to article 3 of the Declaration of Human Rights, every person has the right to life, freedom and personal security. Article 1 Para 6 of the international covenant too says the same and adds that any person has the right to be free to personal security, which shows that security is not a sideline or for entertainment purposes. Society needs security and the state is responsible for providing it. Article 22 of the constitution and paragraph 14 of the third principle of this law too talks of the need for security.
Regarding the recent detainees, the new prosecutor said, “A just trial has 15 conditions the most important of which are the right to defend oneself, and that of choosing an attorney according to article 35 of the constitution and article 185 to 188 of the code of criminal procedure, public court procedures according to article 165 of the constitution and article 188 of the code of criminal procedure, the unlawfulness of the act, and the punishment according to article 36 of the constitution, absence of coercion or torture against the accused according to article 38 and 39 of the constitution and a qualified and effective judiciary which must be available to the public according to article 34 of the constitution.”
These remarks are a striking contrast to what his predecessor has been doing. It remains to be seen whether Dolatabadi will remain to be the lobby man behind the scenes.
