Ali Rezvani, Iranian Broadcasting Corporation journalist or interrogator?

In a controversial documentary produced by the Iranian Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) about Kavous Seyed-Emami, Iranian Radio and Television (IRTV) journalist Ali Rezvani interviews an expert from the IRGC’s intelligence agency. Kavous Seyed-Emami’s son says that the journalist was his mother’s interrogator.

The Iranian Broadcasting Corporation (IRC) documentary “The Usual Suspects” was stopped a few minutes after it began airing on Sunday evening, November 10, due to a “technical glitch.” In the first few minutes of the documentary, which was made after the death of Kavous Seyyed Emami and the raid on his home by security agents, Ali Rezvani interviews an expert from the Revolutionary Guards’ intelligence organization.

Ali Rezvani, who started his professional career at the Journalists' Club and entered the Iranian Broadcasting Corporation with news about the law enforcement forces, was the host of the program "Out of the Pit."

After his image was broadcast in the documentary "The Usual Suspects," Ramin Seyed Emami, Kavoos Seyed Emami's son, told the "Campaign for Human Rights in Iran" that a reporter who appeared in the documentary "The Usual Suspects" interrogated his mother, Maryam Mombini, on July 24, 2018.

Ramin Seyed-Emami said that after watching a few minutes of the documentary that aired Sunday night, his mother became so distraught and ill that she was taken to the hospital.

Kavous Seyed Emami, a university professor and environmental activist, died in Evin Prison in February 2017 for unknown reasons after being arrested. The suspicious death of this 64-year-old professor, who was one of the most well-known environmental activists in Iran, received widespread coverage in the international media.

Human rights organizations have called on the Iranian government to explain the reason for his arrest and how he died in a cell equipped with CCTV cameras. An official report on the cause of Kavous Seyed-Emami's death has not yet been released.

Security officials claim that the university professor and other environmental activists who were arrested at the same time as him are spies. While the National Security Council, as well as the Ministry of Intelligence and the Iranian Environment Organization, have repeatedly denied the accusation, the environmental activists remain behind bars.

The documentary "The Usual Suspects" was made on the topic of "The Case of the Environmental Defendants," and the widespread advertising for the film on social media appears to be a new attempt to justify the reason for the arrest of these activists.

This is not the first time Ali Rezvani's name has been mentioned on social media. Born in Tehran in 1984, he has a bachelor's degree in communication sciences and is also called "the most unsticky journalist."

He, who calls himself a "sports journalist," said last year, in response to the presence of a female referee in basketball games, that "it seems like the Basketball Federation is facing a severe shortage of referees, to the point where a female referee is judging men's games."

Ali Rezvani is accused of hosting security programs for the Iranian Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) under the guise of a journalist, such as 20:30. Masih Alinejad, the organizer of the campaign against compulsory hijab, says that Ali Rezvani is an interrogator and collaborator with security institutions. He says that “Ali Rezvani went to my mother to get a “confession” from her in a television report.”

According to Ramin Seyed-Emami, Rezvani entered Kavous Seyed-Emami's house with security officers on the night of July 25, 2018, during a football match between the Iranian and Portuguese teams.

Ramin Seyed-Emami wrote on his Instagram page at the time: "The agents brought six large boxes with them and took them to the basement of our house without letting anyone witness their activities. After nearly five months since my father's death, is their evidence still not enough? Are they planning to plant evidence there? The bailiffs are currently on site and have occupied the alley. Our defense lawyer, Mr. Keykhosravi, appeared downstairs in our house but was not allowed to enter."

On February 16, 2017, the Iranian Broadcasting Corporation (SED) aired a documentary on its 20:30 news program that questioned the character and activities of Kavous Seyyed Emami and called him a spy. Such a documentary violates Iranian domestic and international laws regarding the principle of innocence, as well as violating individuals' privacy.

The family and lawyers of Kavoos Seyed Emami filed a complaint against the Iranian Broadcasting Corporation (IRCC) and asked the authorities to be "accountable" about the cause of the late Seyed Emami's death, instead of "creating a security vacuum and defaming his reputation." According to Ramin Seyed Emami, the complaint has not gone anywhere.

Kavous Seyed Emami's son told the Human Rights Campaign: "Our complaint against the Iranian Broadcasting Corporation went nowhere. We knew it would go nowhere, and our complaint was more symbolic. We wanted to say that your evidence for the espionage accusation is the picture of my father petting his dogs or his fishing hook that you show in 2030, claiming that this is how he got in touch with Israel."

Source: DW