December 29, 2017
Ali Motahari, one of Iran’s most outspoken legislators and a deputy speaker of the Majlis, has called for former President Mahmud Ahmadi-nejad to be put on trial.
Ahmadi-nejad and his companions are “not worthy enough” to be considered the opposition, Motahari said, adding they should face an open trial for misdeeds while in office.
In an interview with the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) last week, Motahari derided Ahmadi-nejad and his allies as members of the “Basketist Cult.” “They do not have the necessary caliber to even be considered the opposition.”
Ahmadi-nejad’s former deputy for executive affairs, Hamid Baqai, attended a court hearing a few weeks ago carrying a red basket full of documents. The Judiciary’s news website, Mizan, then coined the term “Basketists” to describe the former president and his supporters.
There are pending cases against Ahmadi-nejad in the Judiciary, but so far no action has been taken on any of them. These cases deal mainly with financial improprieties.
A self-exiled Iranian journalist, Mehdi Mahdavi-Azad, told Radio Farda that labeling Ahmadi-nejad and his followers is beside the point.
“Ahmadi-nejad is trying to represent himself and his school of thought as a new voice protesting the current situation in Iran,” he said. “He is trying to distance himself from the ruling system while attracting dissident parts of society who are enraged by the actions of [Supreme Leader] Ali Khamenehi and the head of the Judiciary.”
The real reason behind the former president’s recent vitriolic attacks against the Judiciary, according to Mahdavi-Azad, is that “Ahmadi-nejad has concluded that, after prosecuting his closest allies, they will come for him as well.”
