In the Name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful
All praise is due to God, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings be upon our Master Muhammad, and upon his pure household, especially the one remaining with God on earth
You are very welcome dear brothers. On the occasion of Judiciary Week, I consider it necessary to send greetings and congratulations to all the active and compassionate personalities who are rendering services in this important branch - both you and the thousands who are not present. I extend my greetings to all of you. By God’s favor, your services will be noticed by God.
The country and the nation are greatly indebted to Martyr Beheshti
The country and the nation are greatly indebted to Martyr Beheshti due to his establishment of the Islamic judicial system. The task was not easy and it was difficult. He started a new movement for the judiciary and he was moving cautiously and doing valuable things. At that time, there were certain complaints and I asked him what he wanted to do and he provided answers. He had really started great endeavors, and gradually many of them came to fruition.
Some of Martyr Beheshti’s personality traits
He was an intellectual scholar and theorist. The late Mr. Beheshti was truly a prominent figure. He was really revolutionary and hard-working. He believed in the principles of the revolution from the bottom of his heart. It is customary to quote things about some great personalities and well-known figures, but what I am saying about Martyr Beheshti is really true: The late Martyr Beheshti was literally committed to the principles of the revolution and the principles of Imam (may God bestow paradise on him).
He was a pious man as well. Mr. Beheshti was devout and pious. Well, I was very friendly with him. He was very pious, he was very pious, he was very serious about religion and religious issues. In addition, he is one of the pillars of drafting the constitution. In other words, the services rendered by that great personality should be recognized and appreciated, God willing.
Western governments’ brazenness as they give shelter to assassins
On a day like this–the 7th of Tir (June 28)– the Munafeqeen [MEK] committed a grave crime against the Iranian nation by assassinating that great and exemplary personality as well as about 70 other personalities. Those assassins themselves confessed to this crime and that their confessions are available. Today, the MEK are free to travel and live in the countries which claim to be supporting human rights. They reside in France and other European countries. Nonetheless, European governments, the French government and others are not ashamed of claiming to support human rights despite the existence of such people in their countries and in spite of supporting them and giving them the freedom to hold conferences even in their national ceremonies. That is to say, westerners are shameless in an extraordinary manner.
The jihadi movement in the Judiciary branch, initiated by Hujjatul-Islam Raisi, has earned the people’s trust
Well, it is necessary to thank Mr. Raisi as the judiciary branch is undergoing a transformation. During the two-plus years that he was in charge of the judiciary, he really worked hard and good things were done in that branch. And Mr. Raisi’s move in the judiciary was an example of what we always repeat: “jihadi movement.” Jihadi movement means a serious, round-the-clock, hard-working and motivated movement. The movement launched by him was like this and thankfully, it has had good results.
The most important effect of this movement was that it revived the people's hope for the judiciary and it made the people optimistic about the judiciary. We receive people's complaints from various organizations. There is a lot of difference in the people's opinions before and after these two-plus years. His services revived hope and confidence in the branch. This is social capital. The people’s trust in the active apparatuses in the Islamic Republic is a great social capital and there is nothing equivalent to it. Thankfully, the judiciary branch has accomplished this feat.
The necessity to continue the transformation movement in the judiciary branch
Well, now that the judiciary is undergoing a new change, I have to make a few points that, God willing, will be taken into consideration in the future of the judiciary movement. These are exactly the things he just said and I have written them down as well:
First, there is the issue of the transformational approach in the judiciary branch. Of course, transformation, in the true sense of the word, does not happen in a year or two, but the beginning of this movement in the judiciary and the adoption of this orientation and this approach was very important. It must continue, it must not stop, rather it must intensify. Naturally, if we start a movement and if we want it to produce the desired results, then not only should the movement not see a hiatus in the middle of the way, but it should also intensify and be strengthened so that it can reach the final destination.
The judiciary transformation plan is a solid and practical plan
Anyway, the movement has begun. Well, a plan was prepared in the judiciary; Later, this plan was revised and we saw the second upgraded version of that plan presented by Mr. Raisi. The plan is good and well-prepared. Some plans are prepared here and there for the sake of formality and they only state some bland generalities, but there is no generality in this plan. This plan is a good strong plan.
It is specifically long-term and it has a time-table for various projects. It has determined the basis and direction of the movement, which indicates that this plan is, in the true sense of the word, operational, and not a plan with extravagant and impractical goals. This is a good plan and you should use it as the standard for your work. Of course, it may be necessary to update this plan over time, but this does not mean that the trajectory should be subject to constant change. The path must be a clear and direct path.
Another point is that everyone should be informed of this plan. I have received reports that some influential people in the judiciary do not know about it correctly. The plan should be made public so that experts in the judiciary branch can see it. Firstly, everyone should define and understand their duties on the basis of the plan and secondly, if they have an opinion, they should reflect it to higher authorities. So, no one should remain uninformed.
The necessity to fill the legal gaps
Another thing about the plan is that I heard there are some legal vacuums - that is, laws are needed to fully implement this document. You have to pursue these laws and you should not wait for the Majlis to do so. You could prepare the required law and do not let the gap remain unfilled. In addition, the body of the judiciary branch should be encouraged to implement this plan. You can implement all kinds of encouragements and incentives. This was one point about the transformation plan in the judiciary branch and its complete execution and follow-up process.
Asserting the rights of the public is an important responsibility for the judiciary branch
The second point is the issue of the involvement of the judiciary in the assertion of public rights, which previously showed itself in the issue of pursuing production and the factories that were shut down. Of course, it showed itself in other areas as well, such as banning the use of certain natural resources and governmental lands and the like. This is a very necessary and good measure.
If some people say that this is not within the scope of the responsibilities of the judiciary branch, this is a completely false statement and it is against what the law says. Involvement in the assertion of public rights is an important responsibility of the judiciary branch. It is one of the duties of public prosecutors. They should be careful and vigilant, so should the whole branch as this is a very important task. Of course, public rights are not confined to economic matters. Health, education, the environment and the like are other issues in the domain of public rights.
Supporting those who counsel to do good and who advise against evil
One example of public right is the counsel to do good and the advice against evil. Of course, this wajib [religiously obligatory act] is not common in our society the way it should be. Those who counsel to do good and advise against evil should not be left alone, rather they should be supported. Of course, I know that there are some people who kick up a fuss in the name of counsel to do good and advice against evil with some ulterior motives. Very well, who should distinguish between real and fake counsellors to do good and advisers against evil? It is up to the judiciary to distinguish this. You should back up those whom you understand are real counsellors to do good and advisers against evil.
As I was told, there is a legal gap regarding the issue of pursuing public rights as well. Now, for example, what is the sentence of a person who has violated public rights? What is his punishment? This is not specified in law. Therefore, different judicial systems in different cities and different parts of the country obviously have to behave according to their personal views. One gives a certain ruling and another gives a different one. Laws are needed for this as well. This was another point.
The importance of combating corruption in the Judiciary branch and protecting the reputation of honorable judges
Another point is the discussion of fighting corruption within the branch. This has also started in the branch. It is one of the most important endeavors. It is one of the first and foremost tasks of the judiciary. Of course, I would like to add that sometimes, the controversy over the existence of corruption in the judiciary becomes so extreme that even honest, clean and pious judges are insulted.
This is not permissible. The vast majority of judges across the country are honorable, motivated, faithful, uncorrupted, and forgiving people. They are living a hard life and are doing heavy work. We should be careful not to be unkind to them. We should not be unkind to these pious individuals - who are undoubtedly the majority in the judiciary - but after all, the corrupt elements, no matter how small in number they are, exert their impact.
In other words, if an average person in a public prosecutor’s office or in such and such a court of law does a wrong and corrupt move and if someone else is notified of it, they might spread it here and there and subsequently, the rumor mill will have it that there is corruption in the judiciary branch. There is only one corrupt person, but the judiciary branch will receive bad publicity. Therefore, your organization should seriously confront this issue so that honorable and pious judges are not insulted and disrespected. However, you should confront, in the true sense of the word, those who should be confronted.
Well, we receive many popular reports. Every day, one or two briefings of popular reports and the like are given to me and I study most of them. There are complaints that we often send to the judiciary. Sometimes it is complained that, for example, a certain financial culprit colludes with a person within a court in a certain city and that they are accomplices. I sometimes receive such reports. Well, it may be true, it may be a lie, but it matters anyway. This is one of those conditions where you should immediately send the investigation team to investigate as soon as your receive reports like this. This is one of those issues which should not be looked at with optimism. You should not say, “No, we know him. The report is not correct.” You should not act like this. You must dispatch a vigilant investigation team. This is one of those conditions where you should take the reports seriously.
I think it was in the previous term – I do not correctly remember if this happened at the time of Mr. Raisi or in the previous term – when they put together a team which would secretly visit courts of law in provincial cities and would keep things under surveillance. This is a very good course of action. You should mobilize and dispatch individuals to verify the matter and to see how much this claim is true or not. After all, seeing with one’s own eyes is very effective. On paper, many things cannot be understood. Unfortunately, these days, I cannot have much contact with the people, but for many years I always had a lot of contact with people. I witnessed things that are only understood in public meetings and in direct contacts, things that cannot be understood on paper and by reading reports and the like.
The judiciary branch should be in close contact with the people and with active groups in society
The next point is about presence among the people, a point that I just mentioned. One of Mr. Raisi’s strong points in the judiciary branch was presence among the people. You should not stop doing this. The honorable officials in the judiciary branch should not stop doing this after his departure. This is a very good and important course of action and as I mentioned earlier, it will yield many blessings. Being among the people and being in contact with active groups in society – such as academic, seminary and economic activists and activists working on matters related to women and the ones working on tribal matters. Being in contact with them is very important. It is very important that judiciary officials, especially the head of the judiciary, be in contact with the groups that work in these fields.
There is so much in the field of production that one cannot understand until one has contacted and heard from the people who are active in the issues of production – such as officials in charge of labor issues and laborers themselves. Communication with these active groups is part of popular presence and public communication and therefore, we must pay attention to it. The first benefit of it is that you can hear from them what the main problems are and secondly you can explain things to them. It is often the case that organizations have certain policies, some of which are protested against from the outside. They have no bad intention, but they protest because they do not have enough information. In other words, they do not know the reasoning for this decision. So, because they do not know, they protest. All right, you could explain it to them. There are some things that need to be explained and clarified.
Well, these statements were about the judiciary. By God’s favor, a new chapter will begin in the judiciary branch, and God willing, the same approach and method that was very good in the time of Mr. Raisi in the past two-plus years will continue with strength so that there will be even more achievements and more dynamism.
A strong blow to those trying to create a boycott of the elections
I would also like to say a few things about the elections. This election was truly magnificent. This election that took place was literally an epic created by the people. Well, efforts were being made, they were writing in cyberspace, they are talking in media in order to deny the greatness of this election, but it is of no use. This effort is in vain, it was a big achievement. The analysts who cast their eyes on the elections understand what happened.
Where in the world is it common for all opposing propaganda apparatuses – the active and influential ones – to do their utmost to intimidate people with the purpose of discouraging them from participating in the elections? American and English media, as well as the media in some reactionary and notorious countries focused all their efforts on our elections. Their own agents coupled with some treacherous Iranian individuals who are living under the flag of the American and the English and who feed from them, began to work since long ago in radio, television and satellite channels and in cyberspace – not just one and two of them, rather hundreds and thousands of them – in order to push the people away from the elections. Well, they had certain pretexts, an example of which was the people’s livelihood problems. They were really hopeful about this. Some of the things that happened later on, such as the developments related to the verification or non-verification of certain individuals in the vetting process, were also used as pretexts.
It might occur that I come to disagree with some of the viewpoints of the honorable Guardian Council, but the Guardian Council acted according to its religious obligations. It is acting according to the law. They are devout and pious people who are committed to their religious obligations. They are acting according to their religious duties. I might not agree with one, two decisions made by them, but I believe that they are acting according to their duties. However, those people used these as pretexts. This is one of their pretexts.
One of the pretexts that they used was the people’s livelihood problems. What they did was to create uproar about this in order to discourage the people from showing their presence at the ballot boxes. They really hoped that the people’s participation would be about 20, 25 %. They expressed this hope explicitly. Well, despite all these efforts, the people participated like that. Despite the coronavirus – according to experts’ calculations, at least 10 % of those who did not participate did not do so because of the coronavirus. If we take this into consideration, then the overall participation rates will be about 60 %, which is a good participation rate.
Despite this, the people entered the arena of elections. They lined up from early in the morning and they cast their votes and then, made enthusiastic comments on television. What does this show? This is a strong blow to those trying to create a boycott of the elections. The people stood firm. This is really an epic. It is really a marvelous movement created by the people.
Those who endeavored during that time to push the people away from the elections are the real losers of the elections. One should not look for the winners and the losers. The winners of the elections are all those who helped the elections be held in an enthusiastic manner. All the presidential candidates are among the winners. Even, those who did not obtain enough votes are winners because they helped the people become interested in the ballot boxes. The main winner is the Iranian nation. The main losers are those who did their utmost, during that time, to discourage the people from participating in the elections, but they were ostracized by the people and their hope, and indeed greed, about the results of the elections was thwarted by the people. The people’s presence is very valuable. Therefore, one point is that the epic-like participation of the people should not be undervalued.
The wrong view of some people about invalid votes
Now, some people highlight the invalid votes, saying, “they are too many.” So, what does this show? Are they a sign of the disenchantment of those people with the governmental system? No, not at all. The opposite is true. Those who go to voting centers in order to cast their votes – those who do not cut off their relationship with the ballot boxes and who wish to vote – take a look, but do not find among the candidates the person whom they believe in. So, what do they do? They can sulk, saying, “Now that my favorite person is not among the candidates, I will not vote.” And they can leave. However, if they do not go into a sulk and if they cast their votes, writing the name of their favorite candidates – which is an invalid vote – or if they cast a blank vote, it is evident that they are interested in ballot boxes. It is obvious that they have not cut off their relationship with the ballot box. Evidently, they like the system. Some people focus too much on pointless matters and make wrong analyses.
Thankfully, the election was held and I hope it will be a blessed one in the end. During the elections, certain things were witnessed that one should keep as experience and that one should learn from. Later on, the Iranian nation should draw on these lessons.
Presidential candidates’ belief in solutions for the problems of the country
Well, a variety of opinions and tastes were seen in the televised debates, but all those honorable candidates agreed unanimously that the country's economic problems have a solution. This is the exact opposite of what the enemy wants to say: that there is no solution. Everyone agreed that there is a solution, but each candidate believed that their own solution was right. However, all of them denied the existence of a dead end. This is a very important matter.
Presidential candidates behaved in a moral and ethical manner
Of course, during these debates, some people spoke in defense of the positions of the revolution, with the necessary politeness and religious manners. Some also showed some instances of bad behavior, which is unfortunate because we should not witness such behavior. We should not follow the lead of the United States in politics and in elections. We should not learn from Trump and Biden who insulted each other in their debates. These are not good examples and they should not be looked at.
America’s disastrous elections
In the eyes of the whole world, the election held by the enemies of Iran – the United States – was a scandalous election. They really did an awful job. Now, the same scoundrels are criticizing our election! An American element commented on the Iranian election. Despite the scandal on their own plates, they have found their tongues after several months and speak against our elections. However, with the scandal that they crafted, they should not say a single word about any elections.
Expression of support for the President-elect by officials and other candidates
One point that one should thank God for is that after the election and the victory of the president-elect with a high percentage, the attitude of the country’s officials was a good one. This is a sign of the necessary peace and tranquility in the country. It is a very good thing for the high-ranking officials of the country to come and meet with the elected president to talk and to exchange views. It is a good thing that the candidates who did not win congratulated the candidate who did and expressed their interest and support for him. This is another divine blessing. We hope that God the Exalted will help us see more of these examples. Compare this to the behavior of the Americans and see how one treated the other after he won. You surely remember his words and statements then. Notice in what situation they were a few months ago.
I hope that God the Exalted will bless the results of the elections. I hope that He will bless Mr. Raisi’s new responsibility, both for himself, and for the Iranian nation and the country.
I hope that God the Exalted will bring the people’s movement to fruition by showering blessings on them. I hope that He will help Mr. Raisi and other officials carry out the important tasks that fall on him with the assistance of the people.
Greetings be upon you and God’s mercy and blessings