Some European states provide refuge for criminals fleeing Iran: Judiciary official

A high-ranking Iranian judiciary official says some European countries provide refuge for those people who are prosecuted in Iran on security or economic charges, instead of cooperating with Tehran for their extradition.

Ali Baqeri, who is Iranian Judiciary’s deputy for international and human rights affairs, made the remarks on Monday after the Judiciary chief issued an order urging serious pursuit of those suspected of financial corruption who have fled the country.

“Some Western countries take advantage of all means to support those who have committed security and economic crimes and, at the same time, are brazenly claiming that they back the Iranian nation,” Baqeri said.

Iran’s judiciary official noted that some European countries not only refrain from cooperating with Iran for the extradition of fugitive criminals, but also provide them with refuge and citizenship.

“These [European] countries are not simply a safe haven for terrorists who have the blood of the Iranian nation on their hands, but also are places of refuge for corrupt individuals and embezzlers, who have been stealing the Iranian people’s money,” Baqeri added.

The Iranian Judiciary official then took the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to task for its biased reports in support of corrupt elements fleeing Iran.

Instead of shedding crocodile tears, the BBC must “urge the British government to give response to all, including the Iranian nation, about why it has turned into the main haven for violators of the Iranian people’s rights,” including their economic rights, he pointed out.

Earlier on Monday, Iran’s Judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi ordered the serious pursuit of financial corruption suspects who have fled the country, warning that they will not be spared prosecution no matter where they have run to.

The directive advised “those who are subject to accusations to surrender themselves to justice, and know this that they will not be able to escape the grasp of justice.”