Tehran Prosecution Declares Bribery Charges Against Khuzestan Governor “Illegal”
Following court proceedings into the charges against Omid Asadbeigi, managing director of Haft Tapeh Sugarcane Company, and his statements about paying “bribes to the Khuzestan governor and his wife,” Tehran’s Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office warned that leveling charges against this government official is “unjustified and lacks legal legitimacy.”
Several conservative media outlets recently reported from Asadbeigi’s closed-door court hearing that he had covered a $20,000 travel expense for the governor and his family to the governor’s wife, and also transferred $200,000 to the governor’s wife through an intermediary.
Omid Asadbeigi is the primary defendant in a case investigating “violations related to state currency.” He is accused, along with 20 other defendants, of “disrupting the country’s currency and monetary system through large-scale currency smuggling and unauthorized transactions in state currencies.”
However, Gholamreza Shariati, the Khuzestan governor, has called the accusation of accepting a bribe from the Haft Tapeh Sugarcane Company’s managing director “void” and promised that “everything will soon be clarified.”
Tehran’s Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office also issued a statement on Monday, the 5th of Khordad, stating that the issue of charges against the Khuzestan governor has not been “brought up” in this judicial institution and therefore “leveling charges against him is unjustified and lacks legal legitimacy.”
This statement, referring to reports about Asadbeigi’s court hearing and the mention of Gholamreza Shariati in it, states that “attributing any charges or false claims to individuals is admissible only if it has gone through its own legal procedures and process.”
Tehran’s Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office ultimately warned those present at Asadbeigi’s court hearing that “legal and ethical standards must be observed and the publication of court session content should be avoided, particularly regarding individuals for whom no judicial decision has yet been made.”
Gholamreza Shariati has so far been unwilling to respond to journalists’ questions about these charges.
Source: Radio Farda
