Full Name:
Abolghassem Salavati
Background:
No information is available on his birth and education.
Positions:
- Head of Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran
Human Rights Violations:
As the Head of Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, Judge Abdolghassem Salavati has been responsible for multiple human rights violations by presiding over unfair trials, suppressing protests, persecuting ethnic and religious minorities, making excessive use of the death penalty, and issuing heavy prison sentences for activists.
- Protest Suppression
Following the 2009 post-election protests, Salavati assisted security forces in suppressing protests by presiding over “show trials,” condemning two monarchists to death.
- Unfair Trials and Heavy Sentences
Salavati has deprived defendants of access to legal representation and subjected them to brutal interrogations and extrajudicial ill-treatment in the absence of their lawyers. He has also sentenced a large number of activists and dissidents to long prison terms and death.
- Religious Persecution of Baha’i Citizens
Salavati is responsible for executing prison sentences for Baha’i professors on the basis of their faith after they were charged with national security-related charges for their work at a virtual Baha’i university.
- Religious Persecution of Gonabadi Dervishes
According to Salavati’s verdict seven members of the Gonabadi Dervishes are collectively serving 62 years in prison for their peaceful activities as members of the sect.
- EU Sanctions
On 13 April 2011, the European Union published the names of 32 officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran whom the E.U. asserts are “responsible for serious human rights violations” and is thus subjecting to travel bans and asset freezes.[1] [1]EU Council statement on 13 April 2011
[…] a resident of Sweden, has been sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court’s Judge Abolghassem Salavati[viii], on the charges of “Corruption on earth, espionage, and collaboration with a hostile […]