Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - August 5, 2000 - A Historic Gathering of Key Members of the Expediency Council with Hashemi Regarding the Impracticality of Re-electing Mohammad Khatami as President

Final approval of general policies to expedite judicial processes and finalize verdicts at the Expediency Council, to be sent to Ayatollah Khamenei.

It is noteworthy that the judiciary aimed to approve such policies due to instances where conflicting judgments had been issued up to six times for certain charges or stages of proceedings.

The council, as the authority for developing macro policies, concluded, after extensive discussions (some of which have been mentioned in Hashemi's previous notes), that judicial processes should be streamlined, and barriers to the finalization of verdicts should be removed.

However, despite the challenges of this policy, the drafters clarified that they did not intend to eliminate appeals and reviews but rather to maintain them, particularly within the Supreme Court.

Their interpretation was that the practice of issuing conflicting judgments up to six times was incompatible with both Islamic jurisprudence and the prevailing legal methods worldwide.

It would have been preferable if the parliament and judicial authorities handled this policy in such a way that the re-examination of final legal judgments could take place in the Supreme Court rather than being addressed by the original courts, as is the case with criminal rulings, rather than being subject to a 20-day review period.

The brief remarks of Mohammad Khatami regarding the serial murders in the council and Ayatollah Khamenei’s message to the head of the council during prior negotiations—that “the leadership has been effective in prompting thorough investigations, but reports were taken from Khatami without intervention in follow-ups”—are noteworthy.

It seems that Ayatollah Khamenei wanted this matter reflected in the council. Hashemi also pointed out that some unnamed individuals were prepared to confront the then-president should he make statements that were not favorable.

Sheikh Mehdi Karroubi's report regarding the proposed amendment to the Press Law, which called for a written message from Ayatollah Khamenei to the parliament to prohibit this matter, is significant as this message was later issued and became a turning point in the fate of the Sixth Parliament.

A reminder was issued to Sheikh Mohammad Yazdi and Sheikh Ahmad Jannati to refrain from continuing their public disputes.

The arrest of Hassan Youssefi Ashkouri upon his return to Iran by agents of the Tehran Special Prosecutor’s Office after a few hours at home marks the beginning of a series of narratives and trials that Ashkouri detailed in two volumes titled "From Berlin to Evin."

The Expediency Council convened. We approved the general policies aimed at shortening judicial processes and reducing barriers to the finalization of rulings. President Khatami made a brief statement in this meeting to address concerns raised about the handling of the serial murder cases. Some individuals were prepared to confront him if his remarks were inappropriate, but this did not happen. The leadership had sent me a message through their office this morning, stating that “he has been effective in prompting thorough investigations and received reports through Mr. Khatami but did not intervene in follow-up matters,” which I conveyed.

In the afternoon, a gathering of representatives from the parliament attended, including Abbas Vaez Tabasi, Mohammad Yazdi, Ahmad Jannati, Ali Akbar Nategh Nouri, Qorbani Duri Najafabadi, and Mohammad Ali Mohagheghi-Kermani. They expressed gratitude for my Friday sermon and remarked that re-electing Khatami would not be in the best interest of the Islamic system, yet they had no concrete plan to prevent it and were unsure of the leadership's stance. Mr. Yazdi and Mr. Jannati were reminded to stop their public disagreements within the Guardian Council as it reflects poorly.

In the evening, members of the Zainab Society visited me. Mrs. Manira Nobakht, a member of the central council, provided a report, and I spoke about the virtues of Zainab (SA) and her importance as a role model for Muslim women.

I stayed at the Expediency Council for the night. Leftist media are emphasizing the approval of the Press Law, and foreign media are encouraging them. Mr. Hassan Youssefi Ashkouri returned today from his trip to Europe. He had not come back after the Berlin conference and is subject to an arrest warrant; the Special Clerical Court arrested him after a few hours.