Iranian judge’s mysterious death angers activists

PARIS: The unexplained death of a fugitive Iranian judge, who plunged from a top floor of his hotel in Bucharest last week, has infuriated activists who say a rare chance has been missed to bring a senior Iranian official to justice over alleged rights violations.

Gholamreza Mansouri’s body was found by Romanian police on June 19, with the possibility of suicide so far their only lead, according to a police source. But activists are furious that such a significant figure had not been held in custody to face eventual justice -- and for his own protection.

Mansouri, 52, was wanted by Tehran on accusations he took a 500,000-euro ($560,000) bribe, part of a high-profile case that has seen 22 people go on trial, including former senior judiciary official Akbar Tabari.

Mansouri had fled Iran last year, first going to Germany and then moving on to Romania, and was the subject of an Iranian arrest warrant. He was initially arrested by Romanian authorities for extradition but then allowed to go free under judicial supervision. But activists in Europe also wanted him investigated for rights violations while in his post, which focused on culture and media cases.

The Paris-based press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) filed a complaint against him with prosecutors in Germany on June 11 -- and then two days later in Romania, when he moved there -- alleging he was responsible for the persecution, detention and torture of Iranian journalists in a notorious 2013 crackdown.

"The facts against him were massive," said Antoine Bernard, senior adviser on international strategic litigation with RSF, adding that there was a strong basis in both German and Romanian law to file the complaints.

He said the group had the testimony of 20 Iranian journalists accusing Mansouri of arbitrary arrest and detention, and treatment that was "at the very least inhumane and degrading and involved torture." He told AFP that RSF was "outraged" by his death as well as the decision of the Romanian authorities not to detain Mansouri "for the sake of his own protection against any Iranian threat and against himself."

The Justice for Iran NGO said it had made an appeal for witnesses to come forward after it emerged that Mansouri was in Europe. "Beyond reasonable doubt, I can confirm that Mansouri was responsible for several arbitrary arrests and detention, usually in solitary confinement, the closing down of online businesses and start-ups, and the persecution of the families of journalists and media activists," the group’s executive director Shadi Sadr said.