Court Hearing on Imam Ali Society Dissolution Petition Held Despite Widespread Civil Society Opposition
In the first days of Esfand in 1399, the Interior Ministry under Hassan Rouhani’s government filed a petition seeking the dissolution of the “Imam Ali Society” and announced the referral of the organization’s case to the judiciary.
The complaint sparked numerous reactions; a group of lawyers and civil society activists sent letters to the president and the head of Iran’s judiciary in support of the Imam Ali Society and condemned the dissolution request by government officials. A group of civil society activists also launched a campaign supporting this largest independent civil institution active in combating social problems and defending children’s rights, to demonstrate widespread public support for the Imam Ali Society. This campaign, which garnered over 18,000 signatures from Iranian citizens in less than four days, was halted by the “Campaign” platform for unknown reasons, with the message “This campaign has ended” preventing further collection of public signatures.
In part of the Interior Ministry’s statement requesting the dissolution of this organization, it stated: “It is quite clear that any social phenomenon, alongside the positive functions it forms based on its predetermined objectives, may deviate from its goals over time for various reasons and not only lose the necessary ability to perform its positive functions but transform into a new social problem, which requires timely implementation of legal measures and guarantees to prevent the spread of created deviations to ensure the sacred body of the Islamic Republic of Iran is not harmed.”
Following the Interior Ministry’s statement and the petition for Imam Ali Society’s dissolution, this civil organization sent a letter to Hassan Rouhani, requesting the Iranian president to intervene and prepare conditions to resolve this issue. Part of this letter, referring to the Imam Ali Society’s activities in recent years, stated: “Mr. Rouhani! Many people in your government have witnessed this society’s activities firsthand in remote parts of the country. Activities carried out in marginalized urban settlements, areas where even law enforcement and government officials sometimes hesitate to enter.”
The letter also emphasized the Imam Ali Society’s effort to “uphold constitutional principles” and recalled Rouhani’s slogans about protecting citizens’ rights and supporting civil organizations, stating: “In practice, one of the oldest and most popular civil organizations that survived through the turbulent events of this precious land and difficult times, having endured for twenty years, was threatened with dissolution through unlawful methods during this period.”
Despite numerous reactions to the Interior Ministry’s statement from Iranian civil society activists, the court hearing on this matter was scheduled for Tuesday, the 12th of Esfand.
The Story of the Court Hearing on the Imam Ali Society Dissolution Petition
At the time of writing this report, no official details about the court proceedings had been released, but the Imam Ali Society stated in an announcement that while referring to submitting “supplementary documents and annexes” to the court, “the case is undergoing legal procedures.” Additionally, Saeed Dehghan, one of the Imam Ali Society’s lawyers, the night before the court hearing, by posting a tweet referring to “the government’s petition for the dissolution of the largest independent civil institution and Iran’s only NGO with general consultative status at the United Nations,” emphasized that “the government has until 11 a.m. to withdraw this petition.” Although no news of the government withdrawing the dissolution petition has been released so far, this possibility apparently still exists.
Several months earlier, Zahra Rahimi, the CEO of Imam Ali Society and spouse of Sharmeen Mamnun-Nejad, had announced that the Interior Ministry had requested their organization to change the society’s bylaws from a “board of trustees” structure to a “general assembly” structure. The Interior Ministry officials stated that if the Imam Ali Society did not make this structural change, the ministry would file a dissolution petition. However, Imam Ali Society officials did not comply with this request, and in early Esfand of this year, the Interior Ministry brought the dissolution petition to the judiciary.
The Imam Ali Society’s public relations official, in an interview with Shargh Newspaper’s Tehran edition, stated: “From the time the Interior Ministry forced us to change the system and structure of the Imam Ali Society and we refused, they threatened us with pursuing their demands until dissolution. It appears this proposal to change the structure is the Interior Ministry’s preference, though perhaps this could be a security achievement as well, but it seems the initiative in this matter is the Interior Ministry’s own.”
This official at the Imam Ali Society stated that apart from allegations such as “anti-religious and deviant activities, blackening [reputation], involvement in child marriage and child addiction” in the Imam Ali Society that were raised by officials, another issue in their claims was “the problem of financial transparency, and with these examples they filed the petition for Imam Ali Society’s dissolution with the court.”
Earlier, on the first of Tir 1399, Sharmeen Mamnun-Nejad, Morteza Keymanesh, and Katayon Afrazeh, three senior members of the Imam Ali Society, were arrested following a complaint by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ “Thaar Allah Base.” At that time, the Imam Ali Society announced in a statement that the detention of these individuals was based on a complaint from the “Thaar Allah Base of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps,” with Sharmeen Mamnun-Nejad, the president of the Imam Ali Society, charged with “insulting the leader of the revolution and founder of the Islamic Republic,” and the other two charged with “acting against national security.” Keymanesh and Afrazeh were released on bail after some time; however, Sharmeen Mamnun-Nejad, the president of the Imam Ali Society, spent 129 days in detention. At that time, Tasnim News Agency, close to the Revolutionary Guards, in a brief report wrote that an individual named “S.M” in recent years, by establishing a “charitable institution” under the cover of “public welfare activities such as combating discrimination and poverty” and also “human rights and social problem issues,” undertook “networking to infiltrate various levels of public opinion.”
At the same time, the Imam Ali Society’s lawyer, in a conversation with the Emtedad News Agency, while emphasizing the illegality of the structural change request from the Imam Ali Society, stated: “Dealing with the Imam Ali Society is the beginning of dealing with civil institutions.”
The Imam Ali Student Aid Society is a civil, non-governmental organization that began its activities in 1378. This organization was officially registered in 1384 and has continued its activities with official permission from the Interior Ministry. The Imam Ali Society is the largest independent civil institution in Iran, and it is the only Iranian NGO that in 1389 registered consultative status at the United Nations and membership in the Economic and Social Council, being introduced as one of the active organizations in reducing social problems at the international level.
This organization, with approximately ten thousand active members, operates in various fields of social problems and crises such as supporting working children and those deprived of education and affected by poverty, addiction, and war, as well as relief during natural disasters and support for families in deprived areas, female-headed households, and those affected by other social crises. This civil organization operates approximately 44 active centers across twenty provinces of the country. According to statistics released by this civil organization in Tir month of 1399, the organization has provided protection and coverage to 6,137 children.
Source: Iran Human Rights Campaign
