Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's Memoirs - October 20, 1999 Another page of supra-judicial interference regarding the conviction of Gholamhossein Karbaschi, the then-Mayor of Tehran.

In today’s memoirs, another instance of supra-judicial interference in the conviction of Gholamhossein Karbaschi, the then-Mayor of Tehran, is recounted. When the Tehran Court of Appeals invoked Article 25 of the Law on the Amendment of Certain Justice Laws to reduce Karbaschi’s sentence, the judiciary was caught off guard. Sheikh Kazem Seddiqi, the then-head of Tehran’s appellate courts (mistakenly referred to as the head of general courts in the memoirs), denied that such a ruling had been issued.

At the same time, Sheikh Abdolreza Izadpanah, the then-Director General of Public Relations for the Judiciary, deferred the announcement of the ruling to a later date. This confusion eventually led to the Supreme Court overturning the decision of the Court of Appeals that had reduced Karbaschi’s sentence.

We went to the Research and Science Center of Islamic Azad University for the ceremony marking the evaluation of seventeen years of work at the university. They had set up a massive 10,000-square-meter tent, and with the participation of 132 university branches, it was a grand exhibition.

I visited nearly all the booths and spoke with the managers of each, which left me quite exhausted. During the formal event, I listened to reports from Dr. [Hossein] Sadeghi Shuja and Dr. [Abdollah] Jasbi, [President of Islamic Azad University].

I distributed awards and delivered a speech highlighting the significance and scale of the university’s work, given its 700,000 students, 600,000 graduates, 130 branches inside the country, two branches abroad, 8,000 full-time professors, 6,000 part-time professors, 10,000 adjunct professors, and 5 million square meters of buildings. The university has an annual budget of 100 billion tomans, mostly funded by tuition fees.

Afterward, I went to my office. Fatemeh, [head of the Foundation for Special Diseases], came for lunch. She reported on her trip to Kermanshah and the foundation’s commitment to provide 50 million tomans for special disease patients there and to purchase 50 new dialysis machines. In the afternoon, the Combatant Clergy Association held a meeting in my office.

We decided on the selection of 15 new members for the central council, holding a gathering of senior clerics to reduce tensions, and issuing a statement. They suggested I attend meetings outside my office as well, but due to security concerns, I declined. I told them they are always welcome to hold meetings in my office.

As usual, I worked until 8:30 PM and then returned home. The news of Mr. [Gholamhossein] Karbaschi’s new ruling was published in today’s left-leaning newspapers, but later in the evening, right-leaning newspapers denied the news. Two contradictory reports from the judiciary were released.

Mr. [Kazem] Seddiqi, [Head of the General Courts of Tehran], denied that any appeal ruling had been issued, while Mr. [Abdolreza] Izadpanah, [Director General of Public Relations for the Judiciary], stated that a new ruling would be issued on November 8.

In Indonesia, an unexpected and significant event took place. The new Indonesian parliament elected Mr. Abdurrahman Wahid, leader of the Islamic Party, as the President of Indonesia. It was previously expected that Dr. [Yusuf] Habibi would be elected.

After presenting his performance report to the parliament, which was not well received, Habibi interpreted this as a vote of no confidence and did not stand for re-election. Ms. Megawati, daughter of the late Sukarno, who was the second most likely candidate, did not win the vote.

Mr. Wahid was elected. Supporters of Ms. Sukarno rioted, resulting in several deaths and injuries.