Arash Aramesh

The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Broadcasting systems (IRIB) commonly referred to as the Iranian radio and television decided to air parts of a trial in which Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor of hardliner Kayhan newspaper and the representative of the Supreme Leader in that publication, provided his defense against a number of complaints filed against him over the past few months. Among the plaintiffs is Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi.

The IRIB’s decision to air selected segments of the trial, in which only Shariatmadari was speaking, is another attempt by the state-owned media to achieve two sought-after objectives: one is to claim that the Iranian judicial system is so fair to the point that even the representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei could stand trial. Their second objective is to provide Shariatmadari with a platform upon which he can attack members of the opposition, especially the plaintiffs in this case.

In one of the segments of the trial aired April 21, Shariatmadari defended himself against a legal suit filed by Shirin Ebadi in which she accused Shariatmadari of spreading lies about her and distorting her reputation. Kayhan has written several articles on Ebadi calling her names and accusing her of doing the bidding of foreigners.

Shariatmadari’s self-confidence, the judge’s respectful and at times submissive attitude towards him, and the unlimited amount of time allotted to his defense are all telling of yet another show trial in the Islamic Republic.

During one of the trial sessions, the judge, who was asked by the members of the jury to ask Shariatmadari a question, tried so carefully not to interrupt the defendant and asked him very politely and humbly if Shariatmadari could answer the questions of the jury.

The judge also failed to stop Shariatmadari’s personal attacks against his complainants. Instead of providing legal defense through an attorney, Shariatmadari decided to wage personal attacks against his accusers, a tactic that has been so masterfully used by Kayhan to distort the truth an attacks their opponents’ credibility.

It is unlikely that Shariatmadari and his Kayhan will face the same fate as reformist newspapers. Past suits against Kayhan never resulted in closure of the newspaper or jail sentences. No one expects that this time will be any different.