Iran: Imminent execution of two Ahwazi Arab political prisoners

Dorri-Najafabadi (قربانعلی دری نجف‌آبادی) was the former minister of intelligence during the presidency of Khatami. As the head of the Intelligence Ministry (VAJA or formerly known as SAVAK), he was responsible for controlling the biggest threat to the Islamic Republic—the Iranians. He still has considerable influence within Iran’s security apparatus which makes him a fearsome prosecutor general.

Profile

Ayatollah Qorban-Ali Dorri-Najafabadi is a particularly brutal cleric involved in many atrocities committed against his fellow countrymen. He is considered to be ruthless on the same order of magnitude as Ayatollah Sadegh Khalkhali the “cat strangler” and during his term, VAJA became a far more murderous of an organization than the previous regime’s SAVAK.

During Najafababadi’s time as the Minister of Intellignce, VAJA committedchain murders of Iranian Intellectuals and ordinary citizens whom he considered to have been critical of the clerical monarchy. Dorri-Najafabadi’s influence within the security establishment enabled him to avoid responsibility and “rogue elements” were blamed.

Dorri-Najafabadi’s brutality is matched by his backwardness; he famously claimed that toys such as the Barbie doll are “destructive culturally and a social danger” to Iran. He has played and continues to play a key role in stifling dissent in Iran.

In the aftermath of the election unrest, Dorri-Najafabadi promised to teach the protesters “a lesson they will never forget.” He made good on his promise; however, soon after the son of a prominent conservative politician, who was detained during the mass arrests of protesters, also died in custody due to severe torture, Dorri-Najafabadi said that a “serious judicial inquiry” was being conducted into prison deaths. It appears that he is once again setting the stage for avoiding responsibility.

Speaking to reporters at a news conference, Qorbanali Dori-Najafabadi, the prosecutor general, said “mistakes” had led to a few “painful accidents which cannot be defended, and those who were involved should be punished.”
Such mistakes, he said, included “the Kahrizak incident,” a reference to the deaths of several detainees at Kahrizak detention center in southwestern Tehran. (NYT August 8, 2009)

He is considered to be one of Iran’s worst clerics.