In early April, Tehran police announced the arrest of a suspect accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting multiple children. Police and judicial authorities, after examining evidence and clues, including the suspect’s phone, suspect that there may be more victims than initially discovered or admitted by the suspect. In this regard, it was decided to release the suspect’s uncovered image in the media so that any other victims could come forward to the police. According to information released by the police, the suspect has a history of sexual assault and was imprisoned in 2016 and released in 2021. Furthermore, this suspect has been involved in child trafficking and sexual assault for at least two years prior to the arrest, and the police became aware of this when a report was filed from a hospital in February of last year regarding a possible sexual assault on a child. This means that the suspect immediately resumed committing criminal acts after being released from prison.

Before delving into the main topic, two questions arise here. First, if the purpose of imprisonment is rehabilitation, then why have they not been rehabilitated despite enduring imprisonment and continuing their criminal behavior with even greater intensity? The words and actions of this defendant show that they have psychological and mental issues. Why have they not received treatment and rehabilitation after their release from prison or during their imprisonment? Have the authorities even considered that a person with such attitudes may commit crimes again if they are released into society? Aside from the fact that Iran’s laws regarding the rehabilitation of convicts are very flawed and ineffective, there is a section in the executive regulations of the prison organization titled “post-release services.” In this section, the rehabilitation and preparation of convicts for a healthy life in society is discussed and the prison organization is obligated to carry out this task. Additionally, during their imprisonment, the prison organization is required to have programs for the empowerment and rehabilitation of convicts. But unfortunately, there have been cases

In fact, prison in Iran is a place where criminals stay for a period of time and then are released. The prison organization only keeps these convicts. Naturally, the product of such an approach is the same suspect. A suspect who has previously served time for rape and after being released, has continued their actions without worry. Another question is why this suspect was not identified during the relatively long period of serial assaults? In this regard, the police say that the victims were mostly children who were abandoned on the streets and had no family connections. However, firstly, not all victims were like this and secondly, this is not a reason for the police to not be able to identify such a person.

But the issue that we want to address in this text is the publication of suspect images in the media; a process that does not end with just the publication of images. We have seen that they have been interrogated and even humiliated in front of the camera by the police. The question is, does the law allow for such actions? Article 91 of the Criminal Procedure Code states that preliminary investigations are conducted confidentially. This means that disclosing details of the case in the media is prohibited. There is even a punishment prescribed for violating this provision. Article 96 of the same law also states that: “The publication of images and other identifying information of the suspect in all stages of preliminary investigations by the media and law enforcement and judicial authorities is prohibited, except in the case of the following individuals, where the publication of their images or other identifying information is allowed only at the request of the investigator and with the consent of the district prosecutor:…. b- Suspects who have been arrested and have

The first important issue is that the appearance of this suspect has changed after the arrest. In a way that he had a beard during the commission of criminal acts and at the time of arrest, and his hairstyle was also different. But after the arrest, for unknown reasons, his beard has been shaved and his hairstyle has also changed in a way that these two faces cannot easily be matched.

Given that the purpose of publishing the image is to identify the suspect by potential victims, naturally this change of face prevents this from happening. Generally, the suspect’s face should be published in a way that it was at the time of committing the crime. Even if the suspect has disguised their face during the crime, the same disguised image should be published so that the victims can easily identify them. However, in this case, the faces displayed are completely different from the original face at the time of the crime.

As it is clear from the text, the release of the suspect’s image by the judicial authorities is only for the purpose of informing and identifying the victims and inviting them to file a complaint. However, what we saw in the released videos of the suspect was beyond that. The police are questioned by reporters about the details and methods of the assaults. The suspect is put under pressure to explain more and we also witness some aggression. If it is considered that this suspect suffers from mental disorders, the question must be asked whether this type of behavior by the police is useful and correct. Does the police think that with this type of behavior and speech, they can compensate for their potential failures? It should also be noted that at this point, this person is a suspect, not a criminal. Meaning, their crime has not been proven yet. Perhaps during the court proceedings, different aspects of this issue will be clarified, or it may be determined that they suffer from severe mental disorders. According to Article 37

It should be emphasized that criminal acts committed by them, if proven, are considered serious crimes in the eyes of the world, and criticizing the actions of officials does not mean supporting the accused. However, it should be noted that current laws are the product of hundreds of years of human experience and thought in different parts of the world. These laws, especially in the field of judicial process, are designed to discover the truth through proper and scientific methods. Laws must be followed even in the case of the most dangerous and criminal offenders. Otherwise, on one hand, the facts of the case will not be properly clarified, and on the other hand, the hands of the police and other relevant authorities will be tied in terms of enforcing the law. As numerous reports from Iran indicate, law enforcement and security institutions do not adhere to even the smallest principles defined as the rights of the accused in the law.