Disturbed sleep of the city
A note from: Mohammad Ali Rajab, a basic lawyer of a court
In the rush of various political news, rising tension in the Middle East region, people’s economic problems, the US getting more serious about the deal of the century, the news that the wife of the former mayor of Tehran was killed by firing five bullets like a bomb, and of course, the atmosphere It hit the Persian virtual world and attracted all the attention.
Within a few hours, the matter became much more strange; Apparently, Mr. Najafi introduced himself to the police and accepted the responsibility of committing the murder. The course of events was so surprising that it was hard to believe.
In less than an hour, Iran’s official television recorded and published several video reports about Tehran’s consciousness and finally, an interview with Mr. Najafi himself. Not only the news and its course of events, but also its coverage and reporting, especially in the usually cautious and conservative Iranian radio and television, was very strange and exceptional.
However, the surprise of the issue is not limited to its complete and continuous news coverage in radio and television, but the way of news coverage and video reports in itself was unprecedented and surprising in many ways:
Holding a weapon that was apparently the means of committing a crime in front of the camera and counting its bullets, and then showing Mr. Najafi drinking tea with the intelligence police commander, and after that, a frank interview with him.
This distress continued continuously for many citizens who followed the news, and it is not an exaggeration to say that many spent last night with surprise and disbelief.
For the writer, who looks at the matter through the lens of law, what happened is, first of all, an important crime that a person has confessed to and now, according to the police, is in custody.
According to the legal procedure, it should be expected that the documents and documents will be collected together with the technical examination and expert opinion of the police for the preliminary investigation of the crime to the judicial authority – firstly the criminal affairs prosecutor’s office and then, if the accused is charged, by issuing a subpoena and The indictment should be sent to Tehran Criminal Court 1 by the prosecutor’s office.
A person’s confession is definitely a very important proof, but it is not enough on its own, and it must be examined together with other evidences and its validity or validity must be evaluated and finally analyzed with technical and judicial evaluation.
This note deals with another point which, if not more important than the text, is at least as important as it is in this incident: one, the requirements of criminal proceedings and the other is the professional ethics of journalism.
Mr. Najafi or any other person who has evidence and reasons – strong and clear or weak – about committing a crime on his part, is a suspect before the accusation is explained by the judicial authority and then accused.
During this entire period, until the final verdict of the competent court that he is guilty, he is under the protection of the principle of innocence (or, more precisely, the presumption of innocence) and is “presumed” innocent. This is one of the certainties of criminal law, and Article 37 of the Iranian Constitution clearly stipulates the same sentence.
This legal assumption has important consequences; which is part of the rights that are assumed for the accused and part of the duties that are for public officials. Among those rights are the protection of all the rights of the accused as a citizen (except for exceptional cases prescribed by the law, such as arrest warrants), the right to a fair trial and the right to defense and access to a lawyer.
Full text of the note:
https://www.jamaran.ir/fa/tiny/news-1196384
@jamarannews
This post is written by monese_ghamgosar