Iran’s Parliament has received the motion to impeach Labour Minister Abdolreza Sheikholeslami for having appointed Saeed Mortazavi to head the Social Security Fund.
Iranian media report that Parliament received the motion with 18 signatures on January 23, and the Minister has been given 10 days to appear in the house to answer questions from MPs.
Saeed Mortazavi is the prime suspect in the case of detainees who died at Kahrizak Prison in 2009. Mortazavi, Tehran’s prosecutor at the time, is accused of approving the transfer of detained protesters to Kahrizak Prison with the knowledge that they would be mistreated there.
Despite his removal from his position as Tehran Prosecutor after three detainees were killed under torture at Kahrizak, Mortazavi’s links to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have led to his appointment to top government positions
His appointment to the Social Security Fund has been aggressively challenged by MPs, as the supreme court has already ruled that, as a suspect in a criminal case, Mortazavi is not eligible for such a position.
