Full Name:
Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi
Biography:
Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi was born in Mashhad during December 1960. He is a seminary graduate.
- Assistant Prosecutor at the Karaj Revolutionary Court, 1980
- Prosecutor at the Karaj Revolutionary Court, 1980-1981
- Prosecutor at the Karaj and Hamedan Revolutionary Courts, four months in 1981
- Prosecutor at the Hamedan Revolutionary Court, 1982-1984
- Deputy Revolutionary Prosecutor in Tehran Province, 1985-1988
- Prosecutor in Tehran Province, 1989-1994
- Trustee for the Executive Headquarters of Imam Khomeini’s Directive (an organisation for the management of property that is at Supreme Leader’s disposal), 1998 to present date
- Chairman of the Iran General Inspection Organisation, 1994-2004
- First Vice Chief Justice of Iran, 2004- August 2014
- Attorney-General of Iran, August 2014- March 2016
- Special Clerical Court Prosecutor, May 2012 to present date
- Central Council Member in the Combatant Clergy Association in Tehran Province, 1997 to present date
- Member of the Assembly of Experts from South Khorasan Province, 2007 to present date
- Member of the Supreme Council for Civil Personnel Selection
- Participant in the establishment of Islamic Republic Party offices in the southern region of Khorasan Province, as appointed by Seyyed Mehdi Beheshti
- Founder of Fatemeh al-Zahra Seminary for women in Tehran (Kuy-e Nasr neighbourhood)
- First Secretary of “The Staff for the Revival of Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil”
- Custodian of Astan Quds Razavi, March 2016 to present date
Human Rights Violations (in chronological order):
Since the formation of the Islamic Republic, Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi has held major judicial offices and has been involved in various human rights violations.
- A member of the Death Committee, responsible for the mass execution of political prisoners in 1988
As Tehran Province’s Deputy Prosecutor in 1988, Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi was part of the Death Committee that decided whether prisoners would live or die, based on a few questions asked the prisoners’ political or religious beliefs.
In August and September 1988, thousands of political prisoners were executed under Ayatollah Khomeini’s fatwa (religious order), pursuant to the intelligence and judiciary authorities’ decisions. At the time of the mass executions, the victims had already served, or were currently serving, their prison sentences.
In his memoirs, Ayatollah Montazeri, a critical marja’ taghlid (source of emulation), and Khomeini’s designated successor, mentions the key role played by Ebrahim Raeisi in the 1988 massacre.
The publication of an audio recording of Ayatollah Montazeri’s meeting with the Death Committee on 15 August 1988 brought into foreground the role of Ebrahim Raeisi, Mostafa Pourmohammadi (Intelligence Ministry representative), Hossein Ali Nayyeri (religious judge) and Morteza Eshraqi (prosecutor) in the mass killings.
- Suppressing, torturing, and executing people protesting against the 2009 presidential election results, and putting the opposition leaders under house arrest
As the first Vice Chief Justice of Iran, Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi was involved in suppressing, torturing, and executing people during the protests against the 2009 presidential election results.
Tens of protestors were tried collectively, and some of them were condemned to death in the summer of 2009. Mohammad Reza Alizamani and Arash Rahmanipour were sentenced to death on charges of planning armed operations. After their trial, it was found they had been arrested before the election, in March and April, so they were not capable of organising post-June actions. They were both executed on 28 January 2010, nonetheless.
Though it was proved that Mohammad Reza Alizamani and Arash Rahmanipour had both been arrested before the presidential election, Ebrahim Raisi, in a “Basirat political meeting” on 2 February 2010, told Fars News Agency: “Two individuals executed and nine others in the execution queue were detained in the recent riots. They were involved in anti-revolutionary movements, and their purpose was overthrowing the Islamic Republic.”
On 29 July 2009, Mehdi Karroubi, one of the opposition leaders, brought up the sexual abuse of prisoners arrested in post-election protests and called for a judicial investigation into the case.
The Iranian judiciary formed an investigative committee, comprised of Ebrahim Raisi (Vice Chief Justice), Gholam Hossein Eje’i (Attorney-General), and Ali Khalafi (head of the Judiciary’s office manager). In a letter to the Chief Justice on 12 September 2009, the committee disproved sexual abuse allegations and wrote: “the committee rejects claims of sexual harassment to the prisoners mentioned by Mr. Karroubi. The allegations are not documented, but forged and fabricated for distracting public opinion. Investigations were conducted by the judiciary and security authorities to determine what was behind these claims. The results will be announced publicly.”
The committee’s rejection of sexual harassment claims was a consequence of the pressures put on the victims to retract their testimonies.
As Iran’s Attorney General, Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi was strict and harsh against opposition leaders and objected to lifting their house arrests. To emphasise the necessity of maintaining detention terms, on 29 December 2014 Raisi stated: “The Islamic Republic has been benevolent to the sedition leaders, and their detention is for ensuring their own safety.”
- Sentencing Ahmad Montazeri to 21-years of imprisonment in a special clerical court
As the Special Prosecutor of the Clergy, Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi, played an important role in issuing Ahmad Monazeri’s 21-year prison sentence.
After an audio recording of Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri’s meeting with the Death Committee was released on 15 August 1988 by his son, Ahmad Montazeri, the Ayatollah was sentenced to 21 years of imprisonment and stripped of his clerical authority.
The Death Committee was comprised of Ebrahim Raisi (Deputy Prosecutor), Mostafa Pourmohammadi (the Intelligence Ministry’s Representative), Hossein Ali Nayyeri (religious judge) and Morteza Eshraqi (Prosecutor). In the audio file, Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri addresses the Committee members, and says: “The biggest crime in the Islamic Republic, for which history will condemn us, has been committed at your hands, and your names will be written in history as criminals.”
