Permission to question two MPs denied

The Majlis Ash’shura has turned down a request from the Public Prosecution Department (PPD) for permission to question two members allegedly involved in a ‘cash for votes’ scam. The council’s unanimous refusal to lift parliamentary immunity of the two members, charged with paying cash to buy votes in elections to the Majlis in October last year, was announced after a secret ballot on Sunday. The decision was reached after the house reviewed in-depth a report on the issue prepared by its legal committee. Some deputies observed that PPD waited for more than five months after the election to file its charges. “After a thorough and careful study of the case from all perspectives,” the Majlis concluded that “there were some malicious intentions” involved and that the “PPD request should be denied”, a statement said.