FOR years, the victims say, he touched boys memorising holy texts at the Supreme Koran Council in Tehran. On trips abroad, the Koranic reciter would allegedly lure Islam’s equivalent of choirboys, some as young as 12, to his hotel room. But Saeed Tousi had a mellifluous voice. Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, called him a “model to be followed”. His clerics knew of the complaints, but let him chant on. He continued to sing for the Supreme Leader, won a prize and opened a session of parliament.
Convinced the clerics would never punish a favourite for a crime that in Iran carries a death sentence, last month his accusers spoke out on Voice of America. But the judiciary ruled out a public trial—except for those who dared speak to the Voice of the Great Satan. The chief justice, Sadegh Larijani, warned that anyone talking to a foreign news outlet “in opposition to the values of the Islamic Republic” could face charges for “abetting a crime”. Mr Tousi remains at liberty.
Iran is a schizophrenic country. It has a rambunctious parliament and an elected president, but above that an unaccountable theocracy,...Continue reading
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