Full Name:
Abdolali Asgari
Biography:
Abdolali Asgari, born in 1958, is a holder of Doctoral degree in Industrial Engineering.
Positions:
– Advisor at the Secretariat of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, 1983-1991
– Deputy Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, the Chairman of the Board of Directors and the Managing Director of the Iran Touring and Tourism Organization, 1991-1994
– Founder of Refah Chain Stores Company and Advisor to the President, 1994-2001
– Head of the Cultural, Research Foundation of Occidentology, 2001-2004
– Advisor to the IRIB President, IRIB Educational Assistant, and the President of the Iran Broadcasting College in 2004
– Deputy of Media Development and Technology in IRIB Organization, 2004-2014
– IRIB President, 11 May 2016-present
Human Rights Violations:
Abdolali Asgari, Head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), is responsible for broadcasting the forced confession of Saru Gharemani’s father.
Twenty-four-year-old Saru Gharemani was one of the protesters arrested and detained by Ministry of Intelligence during the January protests in the city of Sanandaj. He died while in custody at the detention centre of Ministry of Intelligence.
His body was handed over to his family 11 days later, on 13 January.
Only one day after the news about Saru’s death was published, in a video broadcasted by the IRIB, Saru’s father Mohammad Gharemani denied that his son had died in the detention centre of Ministry of Intelligence. He also stated that his son was an armed member of the “Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan” and that he had been killed in a skirmish.
The statements made by Saru’s father appeared to fully confirm the official account provided by Ebrahim Zarei, the governor of Sanandaj. In an interview with the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Ebrahim Zarei stressed that Saru Ghahremani’s death had nothing to do with the December-January protests, while adding in relation to the circumstances surround Saru’s death that:
“This individual [Ghahremani], when together with one of his associates were being chased by the agents, ignored the warnings of the agents and instead opened fire at the agents. He was killed in the skirmish.”
According to the testimony of one of Saru’s close relatives, security forces forced Mohammad Ghahremani to make the TV statement. Mr Ghahremani is still banned by the same forces from giving any interviews to the media.
*Last update: March 12, 2018*
