Deputy minister charged with "complicity in electoral
fraud"
TEHRAN, Feb 12 (AFP) - Iran's deputy interior minister Mostafa Tajzadeh
on Monday was formally accused of "complicity in electoral fraud"
during last year's legislative elections.
Tajzadeh, who appeared in court early Monday after refusing to attend
a previous hearing because it was not open to all press, was also accused
of refusing to carry out a "recount mission" ordered by the Guardians
Council, a conservative-led electoral oversight body.
Tajzadeh, a close reformist ally of moderate Iranian President Mohammad
Khatami, rejected the two "new accusations," demanding that state
television broadcast the trial "so that the people can see who is
trampling on their rights."
"It is the first time in the history of the world that an official
in charge of electoral organization is being held responsible for irregularities
committed in a particular voting district," Tajzadeh told judge Mohammad
Daqiqi.
After his explanations, the deputy minister called on the administrative
tribunal to give him time to prepare his defence, but the judge refused.
The hearing was scheduled to continue in the afternoon.
Upon leaving the court room, Tajzadeh criticised the tribunal for failing
to respond to his request to summon Guardians Council officials as witnesses.
On Wednesday, Tajzadeh refused to appear in court after determining
that reporters and photographers were not being admitted to the courtroom.
The previous two hearings were public, but only journalists belonging
to the domestic press were permitted to provide coverage from court.
Conservatives who dominate the courts accuse Tajzadeh of bias in last
year's legislative elections which saw reformists take control of parliament.
They are calling for him to be banned from any involvement in the presidential
elections to be held in June this year, but last month Interior Minister
Abdol-vahed Mussavi-Lari said Tajzadeh would be responsible for those polls.
Tehran governor Ayatollahi Azarmi is also accused of "electoral
offences" during the legislative elections, but his trial was postponed
Sunday because he had been hospitalised.
Tajzadeh, a longtime target of conservative attacks, is also facing
separate charges over his alleged role in unrest last August in the provincial
capital of Khoramabad.
One policeman was killed and dozens of people wounded in several days
of clashes in Khoramabad after a mob stormed the city airport to block
two liberals from addressing a pro-reform student gathering.
The conservative-run state inspectorate-general put much of the blame
for the unrest on reformists, specifically naming Tajzadeh after his ministry
issued permits for the conference.
But other investigations by the national security council and the reform-majority
parliament largely backed student claims that they had been beaten by militiamen
and members of Iran's elite Revoltuionary Guards.
Links
