By CNN

CNN’s chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour.

• Some 40 minutes after the interview was scheduled due to start and with Raisi running late, an aide told Amanpour the president had suggested that she wear a head scarf.
• Amanpour said that she “politely declined.”
• Amanpour said that she wears a head scarf while reporting in Iran to comply with the local laws and customs.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi withdrew from a long-planned interview with CNN’s chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, after she declined a last-minute demand to wear a head scarf.

Some 40 minutes after the interview was scheduled due to start and with Raisi running late, an aide told Amanpour the president had suggested that she wear a head scarf. Amanpour said that she “politely declined.”

Amanpour, who grew up in the Iranian capital Tehran and is a fluent Farsi speaker, said that she wears a head scarf while reporting in Iran to comply with the local laws and customs, “otherwise you couldn’t operate as a journalist.” But she said that she would not cover her head to conduct an interview with an Iranian official outside a country where it is not required.

“Here in New York, or anywhere else outside of Iran, I have never been asked by any Iranian president – and I have interviewed every single one of them since 1995 – either inside or outside of Iran, never been asked to wear a head scarf,” she said on CNN’s “New Day” program Thursday.

“I very politely declined on behalf of myself and CNN, and female journalists everywhere because it is not a requirement.”

Iranian law requires all women to wear a head covering and loose-fitting clothing in public. The rule has been enforced in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and it is obligatory for every woman in the country – including tourists, visiting political figures and journalists.

Amanpour said that Raisi’s aide made clear that the interview – which would have been the Iranian president’s first on American soil – would not happen if she did not wear a head scarf. He referred to it as “a matter of respect,” given that it is the holy months of Muharram and Safar, and referred to “the situation in Iran,” alluding to the protests sweeping the country, she added.

Anti-government protests erupted across Iran last week over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in custody, after having been arrested by Iran’s morality police on an accusation of violating the law on head scarves.

Thousands of people have taken to the streets, with some women cutting their hair and burning their hijabs in protest against the law. Human rights groups have reported that at least eight people have been killed in the demonstrations, which have been met with a sharp crackdown by authorities, according to witnesses and videos shared on social media.

The demonstrations appear to be the most large-scale displays of defiance against the Islamic Republic’s rule, one which has become more stringent since the election of Raisi’s hard-line government last year. After eight years of Hassan Rouhani’s moderate administration, Iran elected Raisi, an ultra-conservative judiciary chief whose views are in line with the thinking of the country’s powerful clergy and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

In Iran, the headscarf is a potent symbol of a set of personal rules imposed by the country’s clerical leaders, which govern what people can wear, watch and do. Over the past decade, protests have flared as many Iranians have grown resentful of those limitations.

Amini’s death has fueled an outpouring of long-simmering anger over restrictions on personal freedoms. Surveys and reports in recent years have shown an increasing number of Iranians do not believe the hijab, or head scarf should be mandatory.

Iranian officials have claimed Amini died after suffering a “heart attack” and falling into a coma, but her family have said she had no pre-existing heart condition, according to Emtedad news, an Iranian pro-reform media outlet. Scepticism over the officials’ account of her death has also stoked a public outcry.

CCTV footage released by Iran’s state media showed Mahsa Amini collapsing at a “re-education” center where she was taken by the morality police to receive “guidance” on her attire.

Amanpour had planned to probe Raisi on Amini’s death and the protests, as well as the nuclear deal and Iran’s support for Russia in Ukraine but said that she had to walk away.

“As protests continue in Iran and people are being killed, it would have been an important moment to speak with President Raisi,” she said in a Twitter thread.

DPP Noordin Haji during a past address. PHOTO | FILE

• With only one out of 40 witnesses testifying so far, three years after the prosecution commenced, claims of attempts to derail the wheels of justice have emerged.
• The DPP claims witnesses were being dissuaded from testifying, ostensibly to defeat the course of justice.

Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji now claims there was massive interference with witnesses and an attempt to subvert justice in the prosecution of former National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich and other accused persons in the Arror and Kimwarer dams graft case.

 Haji, through Special Prosecutor Taib Ali Taib and Senior Assistant Director Of Public Prosecutions (SADPP) Alexander Muteti, told anti-corruption court Chief Magistrate Lawrence Mugambi that witnesses are being asked to stay away, to slow puncture the multi-billion shillings matter.

With only one out of 40 witnesses testifying so far three years after the prosecution commenced, claims of attempts to derail the wheels of justice have emerged.

"We have prosecuted cases before, but I must say this, and with a heavy heart, that this is a difficult brief, not because of its complexity, but the dynamics that come with it," SADPP Muteti said.

The DPP claims witnesses were being dissuaded from testifying, ostensibly to defeat the course of justice.

"...That was precisely the reason why when we made our application, we sought summons against all the remaining witnesses because the pattern that is emerging is not only disturbing but shocking to the conscience of a reasonable prosecutor," said Muteti.

Former CS Rotich and former Kerio Valley Development Authority (KVDA) Managing Director David Kimosop are among 9 accused persons facing graft charges over the award of tenders for the construction of Arror and Kimwarer dams in Elgeyo Marakwet County.

However, defence lawyers Katwa Kigen and Kioko Kilukumi hit back, accusing the prosecution of sensationalizing the matter and seeking scapegoats after failing to prove their case against the accused persons.

The allegations from Muteti sparked a contest in court with the defence lawyers calling for the prosecution to table evidence.

"If there is interference with witnesses, this is not a matter to come and make statements from the bar, you need evidence, they should have tabled before you affidavit evidence," Kilukumi argued.

He added: "Interfering with a witness is a criminal offence, all these are prosecutors, why are they not prosecuting those interfering?"

Chief Magistrate Lawrence Mugambi concurred with the defence asking the prosecution to substantiate their claims.

"On allegations of witness interference, I concur with the defence submissions that the prosecution should substantiate it by filing appropriate applications instead of sensationalising the matters," said Magistrate Mugambi.

In the same light, SP Talib submitted: "The ODPP has already expressed to you the witness tampering and reluctance that has come up on a large scale. In view of that, we want to assure you that this problem will be dealt with by filing the relevant applications before this court."

So far, only one witness has testified in the matter. Charity Mui, a secretary at KVDA tendered her evidence for eight months, and she was to be followed by Morris Juma, who has since died.

Gideon Rotich, witness number 28, was to testify on Thursday, but asked the court for more time, claiming he needed to refresh his mind on the statement he recorded; a move that triggered a tussle between the prosecution and defence teams.

"Let the witness on the stand tender his evidence, for whatever it is worth so that as we leave this court, fairness is realized both by the defence and the prosecution," Muteti stated.

Kilukumi objected to the move saying: "If an accused person makes such a move, probably his bail will be cancelled, these are well-known and settled principles. Coming here to make statements with political undertones will not help the prosecution."

Ultimately, the witness was allowed to stand down with the magistrate saying that he was not fit to testify as the magistrate called to order the prosecution and defence teams.

"Clearly, looking at the witness, he looks tense and he is not in a state of mind to testify," said Mugambi.

"I urge all counsels to exercise restraint to avoid political undertones to ensure integrity and fairness of this process and safeguard the administration of justice by this court."

Former National Treasury Principal Secretary Dr Kamau Thugge had been charged alongside Rotich and Kimosop, but later had his charges withdrawn and was converted to a state witness in the matter. By Franci's Gachuri, Citizen

CORRUPTION: EACC offices at Integrity Centre Image: FILE