Iran confirms death of fugitive judge, urges Romania to explain details

Iran’s Foreign Ministry has confirmed reports about the death of a fugitive Iranian judge in a fall from a hotel window in Romania’s capital.

“We call on Romania’s officials and police to fulfill their legal duties and present an official report to us about the exact reason of this incident,” said Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi on Friday.

Judge Gholamreza Mansouri, he said, had been to Iran’s Embassy in Bucharest to discuss possible ways to return to the Islamic Republic.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman added that the dead judge had been arrested by the International Criminal Police Organization, known as the Interpol, as a prosecution had been brought against him by Iran’s Judiciary.

According to preliminary reports, Mansouri apparently fell out of a window in the Duke Hotel at 2:30 p.m. (1130 GMT) Friday. It is not clear whether he jumped out or was pushed out into his death.

Iranian Judiciary spokesman Gholam Hossein Esmaeili announced on Saturday that the judge, accused of receiving €500,000 in bribes, had been arrested in Romania.

“This person is in the custody of Interpol in Romania and necessary arrangements have been made to extradite him; but given that the country does not have foreign flights at all due to the coronavirus, the extradition will be done with a delay,” Esmaeili said.