0530 GMT: The headline from Iran on Monday was the sentencing of four men to death for their roles in the $2.6 billion bank fraud that has occupied the Islamic Republic's establishment since its revelation last September. Two of the 39 defendants were given life sentences, while the rest were handed prison terms of up to 25 years.
Iran Prosecutor General Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei offers no details of the individuals sentenced, let alone comments on the political significance. Others, however, are likely to calculate the impact upon the auhority of the Ahmadinejad Government and high-ranking officials.
Indeed, in a signal of the political battle over corruption, the head of the judiciary of Tehran Province announced that Mohammad Javad Larijani, a senior official in the Iranian judiciary, is being investigated over an alleged "land grab" in northern Iran. One of Larijani's brothers, Speaker of Parliament Ali, has also been accused in some Iranian media of involvement. And another brother, head of Iranian judiciary Sadegh, has to decide whether he stands aside while the legal and political manoeuvres continue.
To add to the mix, the Administrative Court issued a declaration posing a serious question for President Ahmadinejad, ruling that Presidential aide Saeed Mortazavi cannot head the Social Security Fund. The ruling offers an immediate test of judicial and political authority. Iran's judiciary had barred Mortazavi last year from holding a Government post because of his alleged involvement, as Tehran Prosecutor General, in the abuse and killing of protesters in Kahrizak detention centre after the 2009 Presidential election; however, Ahmadinejad not only retained Mortazavi but named him to the important post at the Fund earlier this year.
Posted via email from lissping
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