Iran ex-police chief in court over ‘immorality’
* Official says former commander to be treated like ‘any other criminal’
TEHRAN: A former top Iranian police commander appeared in court on Sunday after his arrest reportedly on suspicion of a morality-related crime, the ISNA news agency reported.
“A former commander in the police appeared this morning before the 76th branch of the Tehran court and the investigation against him has started,” the student news agency said.
Judiciary spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi confirmed last week that a high-ranking police officer had been arrested, released on bail and put under investigation.
“We will announce the accusations against him at a later date as the investigation is still at a preliminary stage,” he said.
But the conservative Internet news site Tabnak reported that the prominent police commander had been arrested “on accusations of immorality”.
Any other criminal:
It said that a very high-ranking Iranian official had instructed judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi to treat the former police commander like any other criminal.
The name of the commander, who is said to have occupied a top post until his arrest, has not been disclosed. Information has also not emerged inside Iran about the exact nature of his alleged crime.
The case is potentially a major embarrassment for Iran’s police, coming in the middle of its most severe moral crackdown in years that has seen tens of thousands of women warned for infringing the strict dress code rules in the country.
Reza Zareie, the head of police for Tehran province who was one of the crackdown’s main architects, stepped down without any explanation two weeks ago after two years in the post.
Unlike similar campaigns in the past which wound down rapidly, vans of moral police are still a common sight in Tehran’s main squares as officials monitor passing women.
“I am pleased to have carried out this plan to elevate security in society,” Zareie said last year.
Every post-pubescent woman, regardless of her nationality and religion, is required to observe the Islamic dress code in public.
But the law is flouted by many women who sport skimpy headscarves and tight short coats, especially in middle-class and affluent urban areas.
The police have insisted that their drive is almost universally popular with the public, but some moderates have also questioned the need for the moral crackdown at a time of economic problems including high inflation.
TEHRAN: A former top Iranian police commander appeared in court on Sunday after his arrest reportedly on suspicion of a morality-related crime, the ISNA news agency reported.
“A former commander in the police appeared this morning before the 76th branch of the Tehran court and the investigation against him has started,” the student news agency said.
Judiciary spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi confirmed last week that a high-ranking police officer had been arrested, released on bail and put under investigation.
“We will announce the accusations against him at a later date as the investigation is still at a preliminary stage,” he said.
But the conservative Internet news site Tabnak reported that the prominent police commander had been arrested “on accusations of immorality”.
Any other criminal:
It said that a very high-ranking Iranian official had instructed judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi to treat the former police commander like any other criminal.
The name of the commander, who is said to have occupied a top post until his arrest, has not been disclosed. Information has also not emerged inside Iran about the exact nature of his alleged crime.
The case is potentially a major embarrassment for Iran’s police, coming in the middle of its most severe moral crackdown in years that has seen tens of thousands of women warned for infringing the strict dress code rules in the country.
Reza Zareie, the head of police for Tehran province who was one of the crackdown’s main architects, stepped down without any explanation two weeks ago after two years in the post.
Unlike similar campaigns in the past which wound down rapidly, vans of moral police are still a common sight in Tehran’s main squares as officials monitor passing women.
“I am pleased to have carried out this plan to elevate security in society,” Zareie said last year.
Every post-pubescent woman, regardless of her nationality and religion, is required to observe the Islamic dress code in public.
But the law is flouted by many women who sport skimpy headscarves and tight short coats, especially in middle-class and affluent urban areas.
The police have insisted that their drive is almost universally popular with the public, but some moderates have also questioned the need for the moral crackdown at a time of economic problems including high inflation.
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