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Iranian Presidential Front-Runner Linked to Mass Executions
(AFP-France24) Ebrahim Raisi, the favorite in Iran's presidential election on Friday, played a key part in the executions of thousands of opposition prisoners in 1988 when he was part of a four-man "Death Committee" that sent convicts to their death without a shred of due process, activists say. Since 2019, he has served as head of the judiciary. "Raisi's only place is in the dock, not the presidency," said Shadi Sadr, executive director of London-based Justice for Iran. Mahmoud Royaei, who was jailed in Iran from 1981 until 1991, said Raisi "made the utmost effort to execute everyone." When the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Raisi in 2019, it said he had taken part in the 1988 death commission and also was involved in "the brutal crackdown" on protests that followed the disputed 2009 presidential election that left hundreds dead. "Raisi is a pillar of a system that jails, tortures, and kills people for daring to criticize state policies," said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the New-York based Center for Human Rights in Iran.