Before his election as Iran’s new president, Ebrahim Raisi was the head of the country’s judiciary. And earlier, during 1980s and 1990s, he was a deputy prosecutor in Tehran.
In 1988, according to Human Rights Watch, Raisi played a role in the extrajudicial killings of thousands of political prisoners in Iran.
Given his new, higher-profile position – along with recent moves in Iran to further restrict speech and media freedom – a statement Raisi made while head of the judiciary is worthy of review.
In May 2019, Raisi had just been appointed to the top judicial post by Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.
“This branch (the judiciary) supports the freedom of the press,” Iran International quoted Raisi as saying. “The judiciary sees the media as its colleagues and does not oppose fair criticism.”
But the claim is false.
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