West applies double standards on human rights: Iranian Judiciary chief

Iranian Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani has said the West is applying double standards in issues related to human rights and noted that Iran is ready to discuss human rights issues.

“We don’t back down in imposing the penalties prescribed by Islamic law and have no fear of discussions on human rights, [but] the West adopts a double-standard approach toward human rights,” Ayatollah Larijani stated on a live program broadcast on Iranian television late on Thursday.

Many elections have been held in Iran, but “they [the West] accuse us of violating human rights and [the principles of] democracy, while many countries which have not even held one election… are supported by the West,” he noted. 

House arrest better than prison for minor offenses

Larijani also said sentencing people convicted of less serious crimes to house arrest rather than prison is a good approach.

“[For example], a person has committed a crime but it is not very serious, and the commensurate punishment for that can be two to three years of imprisonment,” he pointed out.  

He stated that in the beginning of the current Iranian year, which started on March 21, 2014, the Judiciary began using GPS electronic monitoring bracelets for some convicts under house arrest in Isfahan and Tehran.

Judiciary hiring talented people

The Iranian Judiciary chief also said the decision to hire talented people for the Judiciary was a very good move taken under his leadership.

Over the past five years, about 105,000 applicants have taken tests for employment by the Judiciary, and 4000 of them have been hired, he added.

Commenting on the backlog of cases, he cited the Judiciary’s workforce shortage as the main reason for the long delays in investigating judicial cases.

He also stated that the workforce is very important for an efficient and corruption-free Judiciary, noting that “this issue had occupied my mind before I entered the judicial organization.”