Raisi’s Death Won’t Close Case on His Crimes: Rights Group

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s death does not mean the closure of the case on his crimes, the Iran Human Rights Organisation said. 

“Honoring the memory of thousands of men and women who have fallen victim to the crimes of Ebrahim Raisi and the Islamic Republic over the past four decades, Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) emphasizes that Raisi’s death does not mean the closure of the case on his crimes,” the organization said in a statement. 

Raisi, the President of Iran, died on Monday in a helicopter crash attributed to a “technical failure."

Rescuers reached the helicopter wreckage early Monday morning following a challenging search mission hindered by rain, fog, and snow.

Raisi, a hard-line politician considered a potential successor to Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, was confirmed dead shortly after the crash. Iranian state media reported that he and the other passengers had “attained martyrdom.”

“Ebrahim Raisi was a symbol of judicial impunity for criminals and the entrenched lack of accountability within the Islamic Republic’s system,” said Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the director of Iran Human Rights. 

“Ebrahim Raisi should have been prosecuted for crimes against humanity and held accountable in a fair trial for the countless atrocities he committed over these four decades.

“However, in the Islamic Republic’s system, such crimes result in promotions, and Ebrahim Raisi rose from the position of assistant prosecutor in Karaj in 1980 to the head of the judiciary in 2019 and the presidency in 2021,” he added. 

A politician linked to the 1988 mass executions, Raisi was seen as a potential successor to Ali Khamenei and a candidate for the position of the third Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic.

Three years ago, in spring 2021, amid widespread dissatisfaction among Iranian citizens with the electoral process under Khamenei’s administration, Raisi was elected president. 

He received the lowest percentage of votes ever recorded for a president in Iran, succeeding Hassan Rouhani, who had promised to restore “credibility” to the presidency.