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A reformist website “Norooznews” has reported that on July 12 and 15, 44 unidentified people who lost their lives in the postelection violence were buried in unidentified graves at the Behesht Zahra cemetery.

The website, which is close to Iran’s largest pro-reform party Mosharekat, claims that it will release pictures and videos of the secret burial in the coming days and at an “appropriate time.”

A reformist legislator, Majid Nasirpour, has said that the allegations should be investigated.

A conservative legislator, Hamid Reza Katouzian, has said the evidence about the reported secret burial should be submitted to parliament.



Another conservative legislator, Farhad Tajari, had dismissed the Norooznews report as a lie and said that the postelection arrests and clampdown was transparent.

The director of Behesht Zahra organization, Mahmud Rezaian, has told the semi-official Mehr news agency that the reported secret burial is just a rumor and that no unidentified corpses have been buried at the cemetery in recent days.

But Norooznews says that people can go and visit the graves, which are in the newer part of the cemetery located south of Tehran, and pay their respects to “the martyrs.” According to the website the graves are at section 302 of the cemetery.

Iranian officials have said that about 30 people died in the postelection violence but the opposition believes the number of dead is much higher than the official toll. Some sources claim over 350 people were killed in the postelection crackdown. At least two people reportedly lost their lives as a result of torture in prison.

--Golnaz Esfandiari

Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani (left) and outgoing judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmud Hashemi-Shahrudi at Larijani's induction on August 17
Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani (left) and outgoing judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmud Hashemi-Shahrudi at Larijani's induction on August 17
Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani has been appointed by Iran's supreme leader as head of the judiciary to replace Ayatollah Mahmud Hashemi-Shahrudi, whose term ended on August 16.

Shahrudi took over as the head of the judiciary in 1999, when he called it a "ruined place." But what has he left to his successor?

Who Is Sadeq Larijani?

The 48-year-old Larijani was born in Najaf, Iraq, and has served two terms in the Assembly of Experts, a body of clerics with the constitutional authority to appoint, supervise, and even dismiss Iran's supreme leader. He was then a member of the Guardians Council, the 12-member supervisory body tasked with overseeing legislation and supervising elections.

His brother Ali Larijani is the speaker of parliament and another brother, Mohammad Javad Larijani, is an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the leader of the Islamic consultative assembly.

Sadeq Larijani is considered an ultraconservative and is close to the supreme leader.

He will face serious challenges in the ongoing crisis following the disputed presidential election, with the recent mass trials including a number of foreign citizens drawing attention to the efficiency of Iran's legal system.

"No judicial system can consider as valid a confession obtained as a result of harsh interrogations or under torture," Manfred Nowak, the UN's special rapporteur on torture, has said about the postelection trials in Iran.

The politicization of Iran's judicial system has been a key concern since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. A constant shifting among key positions in the three different branches of power is the biggest threat to the independency of judiciary.

Gholam Hussein Mohseni Ejei, a former intelligence minister, has been nominated as Larijani's deputy, and official reports say Abbas Ali Kadkhodai, the spokesman of the Guardians Council, will be the new spokesman for the judiciary.

It seems as long as the judiciary system is under the constant influence of the other branches of power, it will remain a "ruined place."

-- Mazyar Mokfi

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