History of Assassination of judicial Officials

Rooz Online:

Three known prosecutors were assassinated since Iran's Islamic Revolution. First was attorney general Ghodoosi who was killed in a bomb blast in his office. Then came Assadollah Lajevardi, the notorious prosecutor responsible for the murder of thousands of prisoners in the early 80s, who was assassinated in his store. And finally, cleric Ali Razini, another attorney general, who was wounded in an assassination attempt. READ MORE

Assassinations have dotted the history of the revolution and Iran’s contemporary history. At times, they have drastically altered the course of Iran's history and there are claims that some even initiated the Constitution Revolution of 1906, and some even launched Islamic armed resistance when Hassan Ali Mansour, a prime minister during the monarchy, was assassinated.

After Iran's Islamic revolution of 1979, the assassination of Ayatollah Morteza Motahari, the first president of the Revolutionary Council marked the beginning of a series of such acts that brought about the era of terror and fear in the 80s.

The assassination of Saeed Hajjarian, the mastermind behind the country’s the reform movement and a senior member of president Mohammad Khatami’s government, left him severely paralyzed and sent a strong message to the recently elected reformist president.

Iran's contemporary history has witnessed the assassination of many of its judicial figures. After Iran's Islamic revolution and the assassination of three known prosecutors, the recent cases have been the assassination of Judge Mohammad Reza Aghazadeh, a judicial figure in a small town close to Tehran who was shot in front of his home, injuring his eye and hand.

The deputy head of Tehran's judiciary is quoted as saying that the assassination of judge Ghazi Mogaddas, another judicial official who was assassinated in recent months is said to be the work of organized groups. Judicial authorities have still not identified or announced the motives behind these assassinations attempts.

But such acts on the rise, judiciary are now said to be carrying arms to protect themselves, if necessary. There are no confirmed reports about the extent to which this arming is implemented and whether every judge in the country will be trained to carry a gun, or is it that selected high risk areas are involved for now. No matter what, this seems to be another “first” in the Islamic Republic.