MP slaps soldier on the road; controversy and protests rise

Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the Speaker of the Parliament, wrote on his Twitter account in response to the behavior of the Sabzevar MP yesterday: "In the recent incident, as soon as the first reports were heard, an order was issued to thoroughly investigate the incident; if a violation is found, the Supervisory Board will investigate and take legal action against the MPs without any mercy."

According to Tasnim News Agency, the head of Tehran's traffic police, while calling the soldier's behavior correct and legal, said that there is evidence of the MP's physical confrontation with the soldier, which is "completely sufficient."

Sardar Ashtari, the commander of the police force, also emphasized that no one is exempt from the law and said that if the incident occurred as it is said, "we will support our dutiful officer."

History of abuse and history of cover-ups

Abbas Abdi, an activist and political analyst, mentioned in a Twitter message a similar case of a conscript being beaten in Mazandaran, which, according to him, "was immediately resolved."

Abdi's reference refers to the beating and torture of a conscript in January, which was reportedly carried out on the orders of the Babol Judicial Investigator.

According to the news site "Roydad24", in this incident, Mohammad Hassan Karimi, a guard at the Babol Justice Building, was severely beaten when a prosecutor approached him because he did not recognize him because he was wearing a mask and asked for his identification card.

According to “Event 24,” the soldier was taken to his office in handcuffs by the same investigator, tied to a chair, and beaten, according to the report. The guard soldier apparently came under pressure after the media reaction increased, and told Mehr News Agency that the matter had been “resolved.”

A number of cyberspace users have expressed concern, mocking the incident, that the conscript who was driving through Tehran will soon "confess" to a television camera that the filming of him and his statements about being slapped by a member of parliament were "a conspiracy by foreigners."

Abbas Milani, a university professor and director of the Iranian Studies Program at Stanford University, wrote on his Twitter page, citing a similar example during World War II that led to the dismissal of a military commander: "In a provincial tyranny, an uneducated man slaps a soldier Akbari in the ear and pretends not to care."

The tradition of slapping in the family of a member of parliament

Meanwhile, relatives and supporters of the Sabzevar representative in parliament have also taken action, questioning the actions of the traffic conscript and claiming that all members of parliament have the right to use the special lines known as "BRT."

Apparently, slapping is a common occurrence in Ali Asghar Anabastani's family and has been done since childhood. A story about Anabastani is being republished online, according to which his two-and-a-half-year-old daughter sits down and slaps him "in daddy's ear" because her father forgot to buy milk.

The representative from Sabzevar in the 11th Parliament proudly recounts this story, saying that her little girl did this "so powerfully, so honestly, so purely."

However, yesterday and today, cyberspace users have launched a Twitter storm using the two hashtags "Anabastani_resignation" and "slap_in_the_soldier" and have called for legal action against the Sabzevar representative.