Following the engineered victory of Ebrahim Raisi, the former Judiciary Chief, in the June 18 Presidential election, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei appoints Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i as the new Judiciary Chief. He was already served the theocracy as the Judiciary Chief’s first vice for seven years.
Indeed, he had held the position long before the appointment of Raisi. In other words, he has a direct role in almost all crimes and executions fulfilled in the past 42 years. In 1984, Mohseni-Eje’I started his ‘judicial occupations’ as the head of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) Selecting Committee.
Mohseni-Eje’i’s Occupations in the Islamic Republic
As a security-intelligence agent, he played a crucial role in extracting confessions from Sayyid Mehdi Hashemi, the son-in-law of Hossein-Ali Montazeri. At the time, Montazeri was the deputy of Islamic Republic founder Ruhollah Khomeini. However, Mohseni-Eje’I’s pressure coerced him to make televised confessions, which led to his execution in September 1987. He then continued:
Head of Intelligence Ministry Selecting Committee (1984—85)
Judiciary Rep to Intelligence Ministry (1986—88)
Prosecutor Office Head (1989—90)
Judiciary Rep to Intelligence Ministry (1991—94)
Special Clerical Court Prosecutor (1995—97)
Intelligence Minister (2005—2009)
Attorney-General (2009—2014)
Judiciary Spokesperson (2010—2019)
Judiciary Chief’s First-Vice (2014—2021)
Previously, he presided a judicial section, which was tasked with confiscating belongings and estates of political dissidents and followers of ethnic and religious minorities in favor of the Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order (EIKO) in accordance with Article 49. The institution is a gigantic financial institution, one of the main pillars of the Supreme Leader’s economic empire.
Mohseni-Eje’i’s Role in the Massacre of Political Prisoners in 1988
According to the released political prisoners and eyewitnesses, Mohseni-Eje’i was one of the leading officials in the extrajudicial killings of thousands of political prisoners, mostly members and supporters of the opposition Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK/PMOI), in the summer of 1988. Through reports and evidence tallied by the opposition, the MEK announced at least 30,000 dissidents were executed in July and August 1988.
Mohseni-Eje’i along with Raisi, the current President-select and the then-Tehran’s Deputy Prosecutor, Hossein-Ali Nayyeri, the then-Tehran’s Sharia Judge, Morteza Eshraghi, the then-Tehran’s Prosecutor, and Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi, the former Intelligence Minister and the then-MOIS representative in the ‘death commissions’ in Tehran, purged three major prisons and penitentiaries from political prisoners in the capital.
The EU Sanctioned Mohseni-Eje’i in April 2011
On April 12, 2011, the European Union sanctioned Mohseni-Eje’I for his direct role in the bloody crackdown on peaceful protesters in 2009 as Intelligence Minister.
“While [Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i] was Intelligence minister during the 2009 election, intelligence agents under his command were responsible for detention, torture and extraction of false confessions under pressure from hundreds of activists, journalists, dissidents, and reformist politicians. In addition, political figures were coerced into making false confessions under unbearable interrogations, which included torture, abuse, blackmail, and the threatening of family members,” stated the Official Journal of the European Union at the time.
Khamenei Counters Domestic Protests
In a nutshell, the Islamic Republic regime is in the most vulnerable situation that has ever been. In this respect, like all dictators throughout history, Khamenei increases oppressive measures rather than hearing people’s grievances.
With the appointment of Raisi and Mohseni-Eje’i as President and Judiciary Chief, respectively, Khamenei flagrantly declared his plan for quelling any objection. Indeed, the Supreme Leader has reversely confessed to the government’s vulnerability versus domestic protests and anti-establishment activities led by the MEK.
“Our enemy is neither in the U.S., Soviet Union nor even in Kurdistan. It is here in Tehran in front of our eyes,” said Khomeini in 1980, addressing the MEK as the main threat to the religious dictatorship’s survival.
“The appointment of another henchman, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i, as the Judiciary Chief, is yet another step to solidify the regime of criminals. Khamenei thus completed solidifying his authority and forming a “Hezbollahi” government, a project he started two years ago,” stated Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
“Having purged all the rival factions, Khamenei has now seized total control of the three branches. But he is trying in vain to postpone the regime’s inevitable overthrow. These efforts will only fuel the people’s anger,” she tweeted, adding, “All heads of the Iranian regime’s three branches, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Eje’ii, and Ebrahim Raisi, must face justice for their role in genocide and crimes against humanity.”
