Taghribnews (TNA) - Leader hails anti-graft fight by Iran's Judiciary, urges continuation 'without negligence'

Leader hails anti-graft fight by Iran's Judiciary, urges continuation 'without negligence'

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has hailed Iran's Judiciary drive against corruption, saying the battle should continue "without negligence."

Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks via a video conference with officials of Iran's Judiciary on Saturday.

Expressing his satisfaction with the Judiciary’s measures over the past year, the Leader said, "The fight against corruption, which has reached its peak in this period, should strongly continue without negligence and on the basis of rights, justice and law, with no encroachment and oppression of innocent people."

"The anti-corruption fight [conducted] without consideration and negligence offers hope to the people as financial and economic corruption – like the coronavirus – are very dangerous and highly contagious," Ayatollah Khamenei stated.

"The only difference between the coronavirus and the corruption virus is that the coronavirus can be removed by washing hands while the only way to deal with the corruption virus is to cut off the corrupt person's hand," the Leader added.

Ayatollah Khamenei hailed handing down of above 1,000 sentences by judicial authorities against those involved in economic corruption, saying that this trend would be followed up diligently.

Enumerating more instances of successful relevant practice by the country, the Leader mentioned “devising of an enhanced and more advanced version of the Judicial Development Document” with the help of intellectual seminarists and academic thinkers as well as the experiences that had been yielded within the Judiciary itself.

The country’s Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi presented the document last year upon taking over from the country’s former top judicial official Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani.

Raisi pledged to bring about a legal transformation to address the country’s changing priorities in the "Second Phase" of the Islamic Revolution. The official notified back then that the transformation would be based on a roadmap drawn up by the Leader.

Ayatollah Khamenei considered change to be a constant imperative, urging that any such development be predicated on “Islamic principles” and warning that change that is lacking in foundation would instead lead to ambivalence and chaos.

The Leader, however, warned that the countries’ enemies were ceaselessly trying to “neutralize any reformative or developmental movement” through their media smear campaigns and by sowing pessimism across the public opinion.

The way to resist this, Ayatollah Khamenei stated, was to “avoid inaction, [exercise] steadfastness, trust God, and valorously pursue the course of development.”

The Leader advised strongly towards protection of the country on all fronts, including against “adversarial actions by the evil America, evil Britain, and also actions taken by European states.”

“Should we act on our duties, those (the aforesaid states), who have been frustrated in all of their measures by God’s grace, would not manage to realize their goals [this time either],” Ayatollah Khamenei noted.

Such dutiful performance would cause the US’s so-called campaign of “maximum pressure” against the Iranian people to instead result in “a blow swung by the Iranian people on their chest that would push them back,” the Leader observed.

Ayatollah Khamenei, meanwhile, expressed delight that the attention and endeavor that was exercised by the Iranian people upon the new coronavirus’ outbreak helped depict the country as one succeeding in the face of the virus.

The Leader, demanded, though, that all remain vigil in the face of the disease due to the persistence of its threat.