Ya scooped me. :o}
Here's another version that I think is more informative.
Judiciary spokesman quits in shot at hardliners
iranmania.com
TEHRAN, Dec 10 (AFP) - The spokesman for hardline judiciary announced Tuesday he was quitting his post in protest at what he decried as a failure of the courts to keep out of politics.
"The judiciary should avoid entering endless quarrels. It should peacefully implement its duty with dignity," Hossein Mirmohammad Sadeghi told IRNA.
"The general attitude of the judiciary in recent months, especially in giving information, is not in conformity with my character, therefore the judiciary needs a spokesman with different characteristics."
Iran's judiciary, a bastion of the Islamic republic's far-right, has come under fire for leaking provocative case details in the hardline press and allegedly targetting supporters of embattled President Mohammad Khatami.
"The judiciary should not... disclose charges before a trial or publish verdicts before the verdict becomes definitive," Sadeghi said.
The spokesman said the judiciary's conduct had "created an atmosphere of tension", leaving it open to scorn from critics.
"The judiciary must be vigilant not to be involved in these political games and trapped by opponents," he asserted.
Sadeghi was particularly critical of the sentencing to death for blasphemy of prominent pro-reform academic Hashem Aghajari, a ruling that has sparked widespread student protests.
"I don't like this verdict. I am aware of the bad consequences that such a verdict has had on the country and the system, and therefore I am sorry," he was quoted as saying, even though he also said he felt Aghajari's offending remarks were "very bad".
Sadeghi told IRNA he had handed in his resignation over a week ago, but that the judiciary's head Ayatollah Mahmud Hashemi-Shahrudi had yet to accept it. |
