Reporters Without Borders calls for the arrest of Judge Mansouri in Germany
Reporters Without Borders announced that it has filed a complaint with German judicial authorities, demanding the arrest of Judge Gholamreza Mansouri for suppressing and imprisoning Iranian journalists.
Following reports that Judge Gholamreza Mansouri is on the run and is likely to be in a German city, Reporters Without Borders announced on Twitter on Thursday, June 12, that it has submitted its complaint to the German Federal Prosecutor.
Reporters Without Borders, noting that Judge Mansouri issued prison sentences to about twenty journalists in Iran in just two months, February and March 2012, emphasized: "The [German] prosecutor must not let him escape justice."
A number of other activists and human rights groups have also initiated measures to arrest Judge Mansouri and have announced the results of their investigations.
The name of Gholamreza Mansouri, a former judge of the Supreme Court and former investigator of the Civil Service, Culture and Media Prosecutor's Office, came to the fore a few days ago during the investigation of Akbar Tabari's case.
In Akbar Tabari's first trial, which was held on June 8, the prosecutor's representative mentioned Gholamreza Mansouri as the ninth defendant and, referring to his accusation of receiving a bribe of five hundred thousand euros, said that he is currently a fugitive.
The deputy prosecutor also announced in the next court session that Gholamreza Mansouri had fled a month after the case was filed, "but because he had left his phone in Iran, we thought he was there and not gone."
After the first court hearing, a video of Gholamreza Mansouri was published on social media, in which he said that he had gone abroad for treatment of his illness and that he would go to the Iranian embassy "tomorrow" to find a way to return to the country.
Judge Mansouri does not mention his current location in the video, but a number of activists have speculated that he is in Germany.
Christophe Deloire, Secretary General of Reporters Without Borders, who also confirmed that the organization had filed a complaint with the German prosecutor's office, wrote on Twitter: "Mansouri is currently in Germany."
So far, two court sessions have been held to investigate the charges against Akbar Tabari, a senior official in the judiciary during the two terms of Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi and Sadegh Amoli Larijani.
According to the Islamic Republic's judiciary, this case, the main charge of which is "forming a network of several people in bribery," has 22 defendants, and at least four of them have fled Iran.
Last year, Hamid Nouri, one of the judges who issued death sentences in the 1960s, was arrested while in Sweden, and following widespread actions by a number of activists, including Iraj Mosadaghi and Kaveh Mousavi, his arrest has been extended twice so far.
Source: Radio Farda
