Mohammad- Reza Khatami, brother of Iran's president Mohammad Khatami and leader of the country's main reformist party, called Monday for the resignation of a leading member of the judiciary.
The call from Khatami, secretary general of the Participation Front comes after an attack by Abbasali Alizadeh, director-general of the Tehran high court, on the reformers, the official IRNA news agency said.
According to news reports, Alizadeh recently sent a letter to the head of the justice system, Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi, calling for legal action against severl members of the reformist majority in parliament.
"All I can say is that Alizadeh has departed from the road of justice with his comments and if he considers himself to be a fair-minded person, he will tender his resignation," said Khatami, who is also deputy head of the parliament.
The courts are dominated by conservatives and are preparing to start legal action against at least three deputies, including Mohammad-Reza Khatami himself.
Apart from him, two other members of parliament, Ali Shakourirad and Mohammad Dadfar, are facing court action as a result of various complaints made mainly by people from the conservative camp.
A debate has been going on in the background for the past few days between reformers and the courts on the issue of parliamentary immunity to prosecution. The Iranian constitution stipulates that "no member of parliament can be prosecuted for statements made in his role as a deputy."
But that constitutional point does not afford court immunity of any kind to members of parliament in Iran for matters beyond their parliamentary functions -- TEHRAN (AFP)
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