security and prison systems, Since cases are referred to the SCC directly by the office of the Supreme Leader, in theory, the Supreme Leader is in a position to refer any case to the SCC which he deems as involving some sort of “crime”. An example of the SCC spreading its jurisdiction is a case involving a "press offense" which the SCC took on the grounds that “the defendant is a member of the clergy”, ("On December 30, 1999, ‘Ali Afsahi, chief editor of the cultural and sports magazine Sinama va Varzesh, notably not a cleric, was imprisoned for four months for having 'insulted the clergy.'”) despite the fact that Article 168 of the Constitution states that the General Courts are the only judicial authority that has jurisdiction to review press offenses. Iranian Conservatives have argued that Iran's Supreme Leader has the power to make new courts if he wishes - they say that according to Iran's Constitution, the Supreme Leader has absolute power, and the constitution represents the least of the powers he is allowed to exercise. Complaint about legitimacy A number of sources have questioned the constitutionality of the SCC system. The Human Rights Activist's New Agency of Iran (NRANA) complains that the court is not mentioned in the constitution, and has not been approved of by the Islamic Consultative Assembly. Several points of the constitution indicate the court's illegality (according to the NRANA): that Principles 19, 20 and 107 of the Constitution stipulated that: “The people of Iran, from every tribe to which they belong, enjoy equal rights, and color, race, language and such, do not bestow any privileges. The Supreme Leader in front of the law is equal to everyone else.” (The HRANA then states: "Every exception in this principle needs legal clarification"—none has been given); according to the constitution, all offences should be investigated in the judiciary -- "the country’s highest legal document -- "except for cases involving military courts"; *iIn Article 110 of the Constitution (which spells out the "Duties and Powers" of the Supreme Leader), no reference is made to courts. Two Iranian reformist Islamic scholars who have served time in prison at the hands of the court -- Mohsen Kadivar,, and Hasan Yousefi Eshkevari—also cast doubt on its legitimacy. Like the New Agency of Iran, Kadivar argues that the SCC is a violation of several articles of the IRI’s constitution (articles 57,