Verdict in the Case of Abbas Lessani
The Judiciary Branch
Court Decision
Case Number: 105-546/85K
Decision Number: 630-5/7/85
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Plaintiff: The report
Defendant: Abbas Lessani, child of Assad, residing in the city of Ardabil, Mojez Street, Shahid Ghaffari Alley, Number 15. Phone Number: 4446932.
Adjudicating Judge: Hosseinian
Court Decision
The Court is in session to hear the following charges brought against Mr. Abbas Lessani, child of Assad, 39 years old, married, profession: butcher, with prior criminal record, literate, free on bail, and residing in Ardabil:
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Participation in disturbing public peace and order through unusual actions, creating turmoil and ruckus through participation in illegal assemblies and protests in the afternoon of May 27, 2006, across the city of Ardabil;
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Complicity in the intentional destruction and arson of public, government, and private property through instigating and encouraging individuals and appealing to the sentiments of illegal participants and gatherers on the aforementioned date, which ultimately resulted in the destruction and arson of close to sixty six government and private banks, damage to people’s and other motor vehicles passing by, especially vehicles bearing Tehran law enforcement tags, destruction of the Refah department store, setting fire to the traffic police station, all of which occurring across the city of Ardabil.
The Court, taking into consideration the following evidence:
The contents of the case file; the Police report and the city of Ardabil Information Administration’s report; extensive and routine investigations conducted by security and law enforcement officials; the Defendant being a fugitive from the law subsequent to attending the riots of May 27, 2006 and the manner in which he was apprehended by security officials; the statements of a number of other defendants arrested in connection with the illegal gatherings of May 27, 2006, to the effect that they had personally obtained leaflets and brochures containing provocative and nationalistic materials from the Defendant and were encouraged and instigated by the him to participate in the protests on the aforementioned date; recovery of leaflets and other documents and evidence from the Defendant’s butcher shop indicating his prior intent and his extensive efforts in attracting young people and students, instigating and arousing their sentiments in order to start illegal gatherings and to start riots and disturbances on May 27, 2006; complaints brought against the actors and perpetrators of the riots of the aforementioned dates by governmental organizations and bodies that have been damaged by their illegal and destructive actions – the Defendant being one of the principal actors of said illegal actions – including Mellat, Saderat, Sepah, Refah, Melli, Parsian, and Maskan banks, Refah chain stores, Keshavarzi Bank, and the Ardabil Municipality; the Defendant’s presence in the center of the riots (from Sarcheshmeh Square to Shariati Square) during the entirety of the riot, being carried by gatherers on their shoulders, and whose actions and mannerisms, according to pictures and videos taken by security and police officials some of which are attached to the case file, indicate in a way that the Defendant was the leader and the guiding force of the aforementioned events; the total number of the Defendant’s phone conversations and the volume thereof in the span of one week with people who were trying to arrange the gatherings and the demonstrations of May 27, 2006, one way or the other, which indicates that the Defendant was setting up the time and place for said gatherings with the persons with whom he was speaking; the extensive and thorough investigations conducted by the prosecutor’s office; indictment number 578 dated August 16, 2006, issued by the Ardabil General and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office; the Defendant’s confession to his presence at the permit-less and illegal gatherings of May 27, 2006, in Ardabil;
And further taking into consideration that, given the evidence and documentation existing in the case file, the Defendant and his honorable attorney’s defense that he did not disturb public order in the city, and that he did not nor did he instigate and encourage the demonstrators to destroy and set fire to public, government, and private property, is ineffective;
The Court, therefore, taking into consideration all the other evidence and documentation existing in the case, finds the charges against the Defendant to have been proven beyond a doubt.
Therefore, pursuant to Islamic Penal Code Articles 618, 676, 677,43, 47, and 726, the Court sentences the aforementioned Defendant to ten months Ta’zir imprisonment and fifty lashes for the crime of disturbing public peace and order through unusual actions, creating turmoil and ruckus through participation in illegal assemblies and protests in the afternoon of May 27, 2006, across the city of Ardabil which resulted in complete disruption of the city of Ardabil’s public order; and further sentences the Defendant to six months Ta’zir imprisonment for the crime of complicity in the destruction and arson of public, government, and private property through calling on the people to attend the illegal gatherings of the aforementioned date, and instigating and encouraging them to destroy, which ultimately resulted in the destruction and arson of public, government, and private property.
This Decision is not an in absentia ruling and can be appealed to the Honorable Appeals Courts of Ardabil Province within twenty days of service.
Ardabil General Criminal Court Branch 105 Judge, Hosseinian
Authenticated Copy
Court Administrator: Parviz Akbari Hushiar
[Signed and sealed]