POLITICS-US: Hawks Plan 'Peaceful' Regime Change in Iran
POLITICS-US: Hawks Plan 'Peaceful' Regime Change in Iran: "POLITICS-US:
Hawks Plan 'Peaceful' Regime Change in Iran
Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON, Dec 21 (IPS) - A heavy-weight group of mostly neo-conservative hawks has published a new proposal for Iran policy that relies heavily on ''peaceful'' strategies to achieve regime change, such as those used by Washington since the 1980s in Central and Eastern Europe, most recently in Serbia and Ukraine.
The group, the Committee on the Present Danger (CPD), targets Iran's Supreme Authority, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the theocratic apparatus that supports him in the paper titled, 'Iran -- A New Approach', and assumes, ''Iran's people ... are our allies.''
''They want to free themselves from Khamenei's oppression and they want Iran to join the community of prosperous, peaceful democracies'', it says, characterising its policy recommendations as a ''peaceful but forceful strategy to engage with the Iranian people to remove the threat and establish the strong relationship which is in both nations' and the region's interests''.
While reserving ''the right to take out or cripple (Khamenei's) nuclear capabilities'' if Tehran fails to comply with current agreements with Britain, France, Germany and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the paper strongly advocates a policy of people-to-people engagement -- particularly for young Iranians who are seen as especially alienated from the regime -- as well as greater use of television, radio and the Internet to ''communicate directly with the Iranian people''.
It also calls for re-opening the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, which was closed 25 years ago after militants invaded the embassy grounds and took U.S. diplomatic personnel there hostage.
The plan does not address the possible use of covert paramilitary action against Iran's nuclear programme or the regime, despite published reports that the administration of President George W Bush has already authorised covert operations aimed at destabilising the government. The paper's main author, Mark Palmer, told IPS on Tuesday such actions should not be necessary.
Palmer, a speechwriter for former President Ronald Reagan who also served as ambassador to Hungary and has been a tireless promoter of U.S. ''democratic'' assistance abroad, said some CPD members opposed the paper initially because it smacked too much of ''engagement'' with Tehran.
Among the most prominent members of the CPD, founded last summer as a lobby group designed to rally support behind the broadest aims of the ''war on terrorism'', are former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) chief James Woolsey; Centre for Security Policy Director Frank Gaffney; former Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich; and a flock of other hawks from the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) and other groups that beat the drums for war against Iraq before the U.S. invasion in March 2003.
Until now, many CPD members have called for dealing with Iran, particularly its nuclear programme, almost exclusively with isolation and confrontation, including military action.
''There was concern that (sending an ambassador to Tehran) would strengthen or legitimise the regime as it is'', said Palmer who characterised the two-month process that led to the paper's approval as a ''vigorous discussion''.
''Our view was that was too narrow a view'', he added, noting that Washington had embassies in Soviet bloc nations in the 1980s but still supported democratic forces that led the mainly peaceful ouster of the Communist regimes there.
Palmer, whose recent book, 'Breaking the Real Axis of Evil: How to Oust the World's Last Dictators by 2025', has been greeted with considerable scepticism by regional specialists in academia and Washington think tanks, was strongly backed during the discussion by former Secretary of State George Shultz, who co-chairs the CPD along with Woolsey.
The fact that Shultz, seen by some analysts here as an eminence grise of the Bush administration, is backing the policy is especially significant. The taciturn diplomat, who introduced National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice to Bush a year before the 2000 election and encouraged her to move to the State Department post in a second term, has also long championed one of her most influential advisors, Middle East director for the National Security Council (NSC), Elliott Abrams, as well as Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz.
Although Shultz's efforts to reach out to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in the late 1980s deeply disappointed prominent neo-conservatives, he has taken a very hard line, generally consistent with their own, in the ''war on terrorism''.
Shultz, who co-chaired the short-lived Committee to Liberate Iraq, has been especially hawkish on terrorism since Washington's ill-fated intervention in Lebanon after Israel's 1982 invasion. The paper notes, ''Iran under Khamenei'', in addition to pursuing ''regional hegemony'' in the Middle East, ''continues to be the world's foremost state supporter of terrorism''.
It asserts that the regime's policies have led to ''deep alienation'' within Iran as demonstrated by the 1997 and 2001 elections for parliament and the presidency that reformists won by large margins, as well as the regime's resort to ''hired paramilitary thugs'' to quash student demonstrations in 2002.
Specific elements of a new U.S. policy, according to the paper, would include:
- A major policy address by Bush that would pledge to ''reconnect with the Iranian people, to help the vast majority of Iranians who want democracy to achieve it ... to assure their security in return for not acquiring nuclear weapons and to help develop their economy'';
- An announcement of U.S. willingness to re-open its embassy in Tehran and the designation of a senior official devoted to the co-ordination and implementation of the policy, including lobbying U.S. allies, speaking with Iranians via various media, and engaging with senior Iranian government officials, as opposed to ''ordinary diplomats in the Foreign Ministry'';
- Making clear that Washington will not accept Iran's possession of nuclear weapons and will back that up with force, presumably unilateral, if necessary;
- Supporting Iranian democrats and dissidents ''to make clear that they are our partners in a new dialogue and that even as we meet with representatives of the Khamenei regime, we consider these to be illegitimate''. Support would include sending Iranian activists abroad for short seminars with their counterparts, ''who have been successful in organising civic campaigns in Serbia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Chile and elsewhere'';
- Developing relations with the military and various other security services in Iran in order to undermine the regime's ''pillars of support,'' and marshalling evidence for a legal case against Khamenei for indictment in an appropriate tribunal;
- Devising other ''smart'' sanctions to isolate the regime and its supporters, including the revolutionary foundations, or ”bunyads”, by publicly identifying companies and bank accounts controlled by them to highlight alleged corruption and prepare legal cases for economic crimes; and
- Attempting to launch a ''dialogue with Khamenei and the clerics around him about how to arrange ''a way to exit peacefully from political power, combined with indications of the alternatives (jail or hanging)''.
''For too long an academic debate over engagement versus containment, dialogue versus regime change has dominated and weakened America's approach to Iran'', according to the report.
''The (CPD) believes that we need a new approach, one based on a sober recognition of the threat Khamenei presents, but also an appreciation of our new strengths and the opportunity before us.''
One Iran specialist, William Beeman of Brown University, said he was ''appalled'' by the six-page paper.
''They have no idea about Iranian politics or governmental structure. They have decided for some bizarre reason to present Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as if he were some kind of Saddam-like dictator. I suppose this helps their audience fit the current Iranian governmental structure into a ready-made pigeonhole''. (END/2004)"
RIGHTS-IRAN: Suspension of Death by Stoning a Boost for Reformists
RIGHTS-IRAN: Suspension of Death by Stoning a Boost for Reformists: "Suspension of Death by Stoning a Boost for Reformists
N Janardhan
Iran's decision to suspend the punishment of death by stoning for adultery, made in response to the ''demands of modern age'' and mounting protests inside and outside the country, signal a victory for reformists.
DUBAI, Jan 11 (IPS) - Iran's decision to suspend the punishment of death by stoning for adultery, made in response to the ''demands of modern age'' and mounting protests inside and outside the country, signal a victory for reformists.
Last week's suspension of the use of this sentence under Islamic law has been done through official instructions of the judiciary, which appears to have taken its cue from the government.
The 'Majlis' or parliament has not yet abolished it by changing the penal code, but an eventual decision by parliament and the Iranian government is being closely watched by many.
The reformists, who control the parliament under the leadership of President Mohammad Khatami, have been pushing a change in the execution law. Accordingly, 11 women members of parliament submitted a bill in early December to the 290-seat legislature to abolish the practice of death by stoning to punish adultery.
According to Naseeb Al Saleh, professor of political science at Ajman University in the United Arab.Emirates: ''The move to halt the practice is a victory for reformist MPs who have been looking to end discrimination against women.''
The move comes after pressure from the European Union, which is engaged in human rights talks linked to trade negotiations.
The EU-Iran negotiations, which began in December, are the most serious Western attempt to engage Iran since 1979, but the EU has been insisting that Iran take steps to improve its human rights record.
But member of parliament Jamileh Kadivar denied that the suspension of death by stoning was related to talks with the EU, saying ''the head of the judiciary has sent a ruling to judges telling them not to order execution by stoning''.
The judges had been told to issue alternative punishments and the decision would be upheld pending a permanent change in the law, she added.
It is unclear if judges are still allowed to order other forms of execution such as hanging, which is frequently carried out in public for crimes such as murder, armed robbery and rape. The EU has been demanding that Iran end public executions as well.
''Stoning has been provisionally suspended due to its negative effects, but this suspension is provisional,'' said Hojatoleslam Mohsen Gharavian, a conservative cleric based in the theological base of Qom, according to the state news agency IRNA.
Still, this top conservative cleric acknowledged that the practice had been widely criticised and had hurt the Islamic republic's image abroad.
In line with the country's political system, he said, it is now up to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to take a final decision on whether the punishment used against adultery should be completely stopped.
''If it is in the interests of Muslims and Islam, it can be suspended for a determined period by the supreme guide,'' he was quoted as saying.
In Iran's political system, Khamenei is the final authority on all matters and his endorsement of all laws passed by the parliament, including one against stoning, would give it the final stamp of legality before it is implemented.
Under Iran's strict Islamic law, in place since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, men and women convicted of adultery are normally sentenced to death by stoning. Men are buried up to their waists in a pit and women up to their shoulders. Onlookers are then invited to pelt them with stones until death.
According to the law, the stones must be big enough to injure but not kill with just a few blows, which Amnesty International has described as a ''method specifically designed to increase the victim's suffering''. The victim is acquitted if he or she manages to get out of the pit.
The 'shariah' (Islamic law) ruling on adultery was incorporated in the 1995 Islamic Penal Code of Iran.
Iranian officials refuse to reveal how often stonings are carried out. But an Amnesty International 2002 report said at least 139 people, including one minor, were executed in Iran in 2001, at least two by stoning and one by beheading.
EU diplomats say there was at least one unconfirmed case in 2002, in which an accused woman survived by escaping from the pit.
The law is particularly harsh on women. In accordance with 'shariah' law, an act of ''adultery'' witnessed by at least four people is punishable by stoning to death. But women do not have the same right when dealing with ''unfaithful'' husbands. Unofficial figures put at about 70 the number of women accused of adultery have been stoned to death so far.
These figures place Iran second on the list of execution capitals of the world, although it remains far behind China. It is also only one of the seven countries, including the United States, that allows the execution of people under 18.
But phasing out death by stoning is unlikely to be easy.
''The fact that two prominent clerics -- Grand Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi and Ayatollah Musavi Tabrizi -- have spoken out against stoning could facilitate the passage of the anti-stoning legislation,'' said Naseeb Al Saleh, the professor at Ajman University. ''But the Guardians Council has always adopted a confrontationist attitude toward the reformists.''
Indeed, Ayatollah Gholamreza Rezvani, a member of the Guardians Council, said that there was no substitute for the stoning of adulterers. According to Farsi daily 'Hayat-i No', Rezvani said that Islamic rulings do not depend on societal tastes. ''Stoning is a sanction for ethical problems such as adultery and there is no other sanction for having intercourse with a married person.''
But Mohammed Reza Khatami, deputy head of parliament and brother of Iran's president, told the 'Women in Iran' magazine that the Koran allows for stoning to be replaced by other forms of punishment. (END)"
Khamenei: Enemies of Velayat-e-faqih are "enemy agents"
Ecstasy In Iran, Agony For Its Clerics, The Christian Science Monitor, December 5
QOM, IRAN -- ... unprecedented questions are being raised about the nature of Velayat-e-faqih, a post whose sacred primacy has been a pillar of Iran's revolutionary Islamic regime. It is a debate that has begun to expose a complex power struggle... among Iran's clerical hierarchy. The outcome is likely to directly shape Iran's future.
The words of Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri drew the most violent reaction. The Veli-e-faqih's duty, he said, was to "supervise" only and "should not interfere in all affairs."
Ayatollah Montazeri's criticism is particularly cutting, because by rank the cleric should have been supreme leader himself, diplomats and analysts say, to follow in the footsteps of the charismatic leader of the revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...
"I established Velayat-e-faqih myself, and now they call me anti-Veli-e-faqih," Montazeri said in a controversial Nov. 20 speech.
Ruling clerics have responded noisily at this unprecedented public attack. Khamenei declared that dissidents who questioned his authority "were enemy agents, even though they might not be conscious of it."
"All state officials are moving in the same direction," he said, and called upon them to "carry out their duty against" dissidents who practice such "treason against the people.... You should get to know who the real enemy is. World arrogance is the enemy, America is the enemy, the Zionists are the enemy."...
The divisions push to the heart of Iran's Islamic regime, and indicate how much conservative forces have emerged since the death of Khomeini...
Officially, the current tension is blamed on "hands from outside," though top clerics admit that "factions inside" may be active. "The best way to undermine the position of Velayat-e-faqih is to have someone revolutionary ... do it," says Grand Ayatollah Shirazi, stroking his white beard.
Attacks On Rafsanjani left Ayatollah Khamenei Exposed - August 2000
Middle East Institute Policy Brief: "Internal Developments in Iran: An Update
On August 11, Farideh Farhi, MEI Adjunct Scholar-in-Residence, briefed an MEI audience on recent developments in Iran, including recent government arrests and closings of newspapers. Farhi's talk placed these events in the context of a more sweeping analysis of trends and dynamics, focusing on the conflict between conservatives and reformers and the fate of a revolutionary system ruled by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
According to Farhi, the latest political offensive on the part of the conservatives against the press and the Majlis, Iran's parliament, appears part of what many in Iran view as former President Hashemi Rafsanjani's strategy of sustaining support for the regime by easing social controls while tightening political controls. The strategy, Farhi argued, is intended to characterize the reformers as so ineffective that the population becomes de-politicized, and satisfies itself with the easing of social controls that has been underway in the past few years. However, Farhi cautioned, it is far too late to put the genie of political reform back into its bottle. She emphasized four aspects of the current situation that are relevant for the future of the reform movement in Iran and for political mobilization among the public.
Public Highly Pessimistic
First, Farhi noted, the public mood is decidedly pessimistic. After the mania of parliamentary election politics, she said, the population is now in the doldrums of early parliamentary politics, highlighted by intense disappointment in the wake of Mehdi Karrubi's election as speaker of the Majlis. According to Farhi, Karrubi's success has led many Iranians to question the wisdom of their own excitement at the parliamentary election. One cab driver, she related, ruminating on his economic woes and his children's demands for an as-yet-unplanned summer vacation, complained that if he had known that Karrubi was going to be the parliament speaker, he would have voted for Rafsanjani. The latter's corruption, if not wit and fox-like wisdom, is deemed matched by Karrubi, Farhi noted. But she cautioned that this depressed public mood should not be seen as a sign of Iranian reformist politics gone sour. On the contrary, she said, reformist politicians are vibrantly enthusiastic.
A Truly Independent Parliament
Farhi noted that the current Majlis session represents the first truly independent parliament in post-revolutionary Iran. While the candidates that cleared the vetting process may not have been the first-rate among the reformist front, she said, they are not short on independence or unpredictability. They include, she noted, women who refuse to wear the chador as well as characters like a well-known filmmaker who entered the chamber wearing jeans and a red shirt. In a country in which symbolic politics at times seems to be the only kind of politics, Farhi argued, these kinds of symbolism are of no petty consequence. While this parliament's future may be marred by hyper-factionalism, she said, it will not be hen-pecked. As an example, Farhi noted that, just after the "heart-breaking" compromise that elected Karrubi speaker, the parliament rejected Khamenei's hand-picked candidate for one of the deputy speaker posts, Majid Ansari. While the reformist-dominated parliament was unable to retract the draconian press law that was passed in the last hours of the Fifth Majlis, the resolve to press for reform in two fundamental areas, press laws and laws related to the formation of political groups and parties, remains. Indeed, Farhi argued, the closure of many newspapers has, to a degree, shifted the stage for political action to the parliament.
The Supreme Leader's Descent into Politics
The third important development Farhi noted is Khamenei's descent into the political fray. Farhi saw this development as part of the critical wounding of Rafsanjani last year. The bottom line, Farhi asserted, is that if Iran has had a velayat-e faqih (rule by the Supreme Leader) after Khomeini's death, Rafsanjani rather than Khamenei has been considered the real leader, the wise man who could make decisions in the political arena. Rafsanjani was also a buffer for Khamenei, absorbing the waves of public criticism that were directed at the system of velayat-e faqih. With Rafsanjani gone as a public actor, Farhi argued, Khamenei has become directly exposed. He has been forced to jump openly into the political fray as a player rather than as a mediator or a referee. This move has opened him to direct challenge.
Quashing the Press Law: Opening a Political Pandora's Box
Farhi noted that the confrontation over the press law this summer was latest example of this phenomenon. Khamenei, having failed at the use of hidden pressure, was forced publicly to call for the tabling of the new bill using a clearly unconstitutional mechanism only used before by Khomeini. By reading Khamenei's letter into the parliamentary record, the deputies made his interference evident to all, and openly criticized his action as illegal. In Farhi's view, Khamenei may have won this particular battle of wills, but he has opened a Pandora's box that probably can never be closed. She noted that he had alternative means at his disposal, notably the Guardian Council, to void the legislation, making his intervention even more pointed by its lack of necessity. He has put the clerical establishment in the difficult, if not impossible, position of ideologically defending a state decree to stunt a democratic process in the name of Islam, she said.
The impression left by Khamenei's intervention on the press law debate, Farhi said, is that individualistic authoritarianism, or what has come to be known in Iran as a monarchist interpretation of velayat-e faqih, has become blatant and increasingly difficult to defend ideologically. An early example of the costs of this move, she said, was the resignation of Ahmad Pournejati, a conservative turned reformer and a respected figure among all factions, as the head of the Majlis' Cultural Commission (which formulated the new press law). His public resignation, although not accepted by the Cultural Commission, suggested to Farhi an increased polarization of the Iranian political system that will not necessarily benefit the conservatives.
Reformists Confident
Farhi's final point was that the challenges faced by the reformists over the past few years, including the student riots and threats of creeping coup after the parliamentary election, have left them more confident about their control of the political process at least for the next five years. They are not only confident that the conservatives will not be able to field a viable candidate for president, she said, they are also more assured that the kind of chaos politics pursued by some factions of the conservative movement will not succeed. Farhi said her sources see strength in the reformist movement's high degree of organization, with a "hidden" leadership that can keep things from going out of control. For the reformist front, she said, the issue is how to respond to the popular demands generated out of electoral politics in such a way that not too many people feel disenfranchised and Khatami will garner a respectable showing in next spring's presidential election. For the most part, she said, they feel secure due to the lack of alternatives the Iranian people have and to the indecisive and reactive politics of the conservatives.
Conservatives Work To Rebuild Support
Meanwhile, Farhi noted, the saner souls among the conservatives also seem to have given up the idea of regaining control of the presidency and parliament for the next five years and are already thinking about how to resurrect themselves as a more acceptable force in Iranian politics in the long term. The dilemma facing the conservatives is quite serious, Farhi said. They have levers of power that they can and have used with a vengeance, she noted, but they have also been forced to accept electoral politics, imperfect as it is, as some sort of adjudicator in elite competition. As such, she argued, they cannot reject offhand the importance of public opinion and voting preferences. Their dilemma is that every move they make to attack the reformists undermines their public standing and lowers their chances of making a comeback. Many of them are aware of the political boost, in terms of electoral competition, the reformist front is getting through the arrest of famous journalists and activists as well as closures of newspapers. Even prison time, Farhi asserted, has become part and parcel of established electoral politics for the reformists.
Farhi cautioned that the possibility still exists that a faction of conservatives has finally convinced government rulers that the only way to go is direct and unabashed authoritarian rule. But at bottom, she argued, the Iranian post-revolutionary political system has never been a system based on direct and forceful rule by a close-knit clique of people. Instead, she said, it has always been a system of complicated compromise and negotiation among a relatively small number of elite factions that had ties to broader constituencies in the larger society. Farhi asserted that all the main political players realize that an exclusionary clique rule cannot be sustained or even attempted. Thus, she concluded, they are likely trying to figure out how to head off this latest crisis, which in her view was mainly intended to constrain the way the new parliament will work over the next five years.
The views expressed in this document do not necessarily reflect those of the Middle East Institute, which does not take a position on Middle East issues."
Tajzadeh Convictedof RiggingTehran elections
Tajzadeh rejects charges that Tehran elections were rigged: "Court proceedings in Tajzadeh's case politicized -- MP says
Shiraz, Fars Prov., March 4, IRNA -- An MP said here Sunday that there are proofs which show that court proceedings against Deputy Interior Minister Mostafa Tajzadeh was politicized with an aim to remove him from his post as head of the elections headquarters.
Deputy Head of the Majlis Judicial and Legal Commission Ebrahim Amini said the way the case was handled at the court was a new model of proceeding invented by the Judiciary.
He said the practice shows the judiciary system's neglect of public opinion. People will certainly will give a crushing response to such acts through their participation in the next year elections, he added.
He added that in case of any violation at certain polling booths, all those involved in the process should be answerable.
The judiciary's initiative rules that in case of any violation the highest authority in an executive organ should be punished, he said, adding, ``This is neither in conformity with legal principles and rules nor is fair and just.''
An administrative court in Tehran sentenced Deputy Interior Minister Mostafa Tajzadeh to one year in jail and barred him from supervising the elections process for six years and holding governmental posts for 39 months as well as paying 400,000 rials in cash fine, sources said Sunday.
The ruling was issued after he was found guilty of vote-rigging in last year's parliamentary elections.
Tajzadeh can appeal the verdict.
Bench 1403 of Tehran's Administrative Court, presided over by Judge Nasser Daqiqi, held eight hearings for the deputy minister.
Tajzadeh, a close confidant of President Mohammad Khatami was initially tried on charges of `electoral fraud' committed during last year's parliamentary elections which gave reformers a sweeping majority in the Majlis.
Following the parliamentary vote, the oversight Guardian Council accused the Interior Ministry of tampering with the votes. The 12-member GC and the interior ministry were in charge of the elections.
But, Tajzadeh has described the February 2000 parliamentary elections as the `cleanest' in the country so far and dismissed accusations to the contrary.
Tajzadeh has also been under fire for his November appointment as supervisor to the presidential elections scheduled for June. Critics predict and claim that he is very much likely to tamper with the ballots at the upcoming presidential elections, as they allege he had done in the previous parliamentary elections."
Mostafa Tadjzadeh is a member of the Islamic Iran Participation Front's (IIPF) leadership
IranMania News: "Reformist party to defend accused opinion pollster
Sunday, January 05, 2003 - 2002 IranMania.com
TEHRAN, Jan 4 (AFP) - Iran's main reformist party announced Saturday it would rally to the defense of Abbas Abdi, a member of its leadership accused of spying after his polling institute showed most Iranians favor resuming dialog with Washington.
"We have decided to defend every member of our party that will be brought to justice for his opinions," said Mostafa Tadjzadeh, a member of the Islamic Iran Participation Front's (IIPF) leadership.
Abdi and Hossein Ghazian, both directors of the Ayandeh polling institute, and Behrouz Gheranpayeh, the head of the National Society of Public Opinion Studies, have spent more than two months in solitary confinement over the controversial poll on Iranian-US relations.
All three men have admitted in court to committing mistakes through negligence and have asked for the chance to fix their errors.
The two institutes released a survey showing that some 74 percent of Iranians favored resuming dialogue with arch-enemy the United States, traditionally branded the "Great Satan" by conservatives here.
Tadjzadeh denounced the jailing conditions of Abdi and other party members, saying confessions they have made could not be accepted because of the pressures they had been subjected to in prison.
Tadjzadeh said the trials of the three opinion pollsters were actually aimed at undermining the IIPF and the second main pro-reform party, the Organization of the Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution.
Reformists have hit out at the hardline judiciary for its alleged targeting of supporters of embattled moderate President Mohammad Khatami.
The IIPF renewed its threat Thursday to stage a mass-walk out from the government saying ultra-conservative actions, including what it said were politically-motivated trials, had caused the Islamic republic's reform camp to lose its legitimacy.
It also said the three pollsters, who are facing a raft of charges including seeking to pass on secret information to foreign governments, were being denied access to legal help."
Montazeri Openly Backs Yusefi-Eshkevari, Baqi, Ganji, and Nuri
YUSEFI-ESHKVERAI FACES DEATH: "YUSEFI-ESHKVERAI FACES DEATH
TEHRAN 16TH OCT. (IPS) The Clergymen’s Special Tribunal CST) has found dissident cleric Hojjatoleslam Hasan Yousefi-Eshkevari guilty of allegations on five specific charges and a verdict will be issued against him after certain pending investigations are concluded, the official news agency IRNA reported Monday.
Quoting the unidentified source that, according to IRNA, had asked not to be named, the "specific charges" brought against Mr. Eshkevari are "apostasy, moharebeh, or waging war against God, questioning basic fundaments of Islamic laws, statements and acts constituting threats to national security made while attending the "anti-Islamic Berlin conference," propaganda against the Islamic system, confusing public opinion, insulting the late founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini and defamation against the clergy".
Asked by Iran Press Service, family and friends sources said they ignored what the sentence might be, but expressed the fear that he could face death is the charges are confirmed, as some of the charges like apostasy or moharebeh bears death penalty, in accordance with the Islam based rules in the Islamic Republic.
A prominent religious reformist cleric identified withy the Nationalist-religious current, Mr. Yusefi-Eshkevari was arrested on 5th August upon his return to Tehran from Paris, where he was treated by specialists for acute diabetes and taken to the notorious Evin prison.
The controversial CST tried Mr. Eshkevari behind closed doors suddenly, without the accused prior knowledge, refusing him his defence, providing him an appointed lawyer of its own.
Mr. Eshkevari’s elder son, Ruhollah, told the press outside Iran that his father was both "shocked and surprised" when he heard about his trial, particularly when he learned that above earlier charges, he was also accused of apostasy, war against God and corruption on earth.
Iranian jurists and experts pronounced his imprisonment and charges brought against him as "totally illegal and baseless", noting that the very tribunal that is judging him is both "illegal and unconstitutional".
Iranian and international human rights organisations, including the New York-based Human Rights Watch, the London-based Amnesty International and the Paris-based Federation of Human Rights Leagues that includes the Iranian League of Human Rights have all condemned the trial and urged the Iranian clerical-led authorities to free.
Dissident Grand Ayatollah Hoseinali Montazeri ruled Monday that nothing Hojjatoleslam Eshkevari has said or written could be considered as un-Islamic nor endangering the security of the nation.
In a statement from his residence, the Grand Ayatollah, himself under house arrest condition despite the fact that he is considered as the highest religious authority for the 200 millions Muslim Shi’a world-wide, expressed "astonishment and surprise" at the CST’s sentence.
"Religious-based accusations brought against (people) like (Hasan) Yusefi-Eshkevari, (Emameddin) Baqi, (Akbar) Ganji, and (Abdollah) Nuri by the authorities have nothing to do with Islam, but are political pretext to silence dissidents", Mr. Montazeri observed in a statement released from his residence in the city of Qom, 150 kilometres south of the Capital Tehran.
Mr. Baqi and Mr. Ganji are both famous investigative journalists and researchers noted for their articles denouncing the role high officials in the Iranian intelligence services played in the assassination of Iranian dissidents, going as far as accusing former president Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and his Intelligence Minister Hojjatoleslam Ali Fallahian.
For his part, Hojjatoleslam Abdollah Nuri, a former Interior Minister and close friend of President Mohammad Khatami was impeached by the last conservative-dominated Majles before being tried and sentenced to five years imprisonment by the same CST he would denounced as "illegal".
One of the 17 Iranian reformists and dissidents who took part in a conference organised last April in Berlin by a cultural institute close to the Germany’s Green Party, Mr. Eshkevari had, in his address to the meeting, repeated that hejab, or the ugly dress the Iranian clerics are imposing on women is not mandatory by Islamic canons simply because it concerns individuals way of behaving ha ving nothing with religion.
However, looking for pretext to unleash a merciless war against reformists, particularly the independent press, the conservatives, led by Ayatollah Ali Khameneh'i, ordered the arrest of all the participants at the Berlin meeting and shut down 25 reformist publications.
"Not only nothing Hojjatoleslam Eshkevari has stated or written are illegal, let alone against Islam, conductive of his being put in prison, but even expressing one’s view against Islam is not sufficient for imprisonment", Mr. Montazeri pointed out in his statement.
Noting that there are more and more voices among young clerics urging reforms in Islam, observers said the Iranian orthodox clergy is bound the reserve the harshest possible of treatments to Mr. Eshkevari in order to "call to order" other religious reformers. ENDS ESHKEVARI SENTENCE 171000"
BBC: Karbaschi's Trial Tied to Abdollah Nuri's Impreachment
BBC News | Monitoring | Tehran mayor's trial attracts media spotlight: "Tehran mayor's trial attracts media spotlight
Mayor Karbaschi in the dock: Iranian TV has broadcast the proceedings
The trial of the suspended Mayor of Tehran, Gholam-Hossein Karbaschi, has become compulsive viewing for millions of Iranians.
It has also divided media opinion between those backing the reformist mayor and those who defend the conservative-dominated judiciary.
Mayor Karbaschi and the judge argue over Iranian law (in Persian)
The trial has become a test of President Mohammad Khatami's authority, highlighting conservative opposition to the reformist platform on which he was elected last August.
Mr Karbaschi, one of President Khatami's most prominent supporters, put up a vigorous defence during his last court appearance, angrily denying the corruption charges levelled against him.
Arrested in April, he faces charges of embezzlement, fraud and mismanagement of public funds.
Audience of millions
Mayor Karbaschi's sparring with the judge is watched by millions
Mr Karbaschi has been in the media spotlight, with state radio and television broadcasting the proceedings live, and millions of Iranians following each twist and turn in the drama.
His fourth court appearance was originally scheduled for June 21, but it was postponed because of intense interest in Iran's World Cup football match against the United States, which Iran won 2-1.
Iranian media have linked the trial with another high profile political controversy - President Khatami's backing for the Interior Minister Abdollah Nuri, who was impeached last week by the conservative-dominated parliament, or Majlis.
On Monday Mr Nuri told his former colleagues at the Interior Ministry that his impeachment had highlighted a split between those believing in "political development and the defence of people's rights and freedom" and those who "sought to censure these notions."
Meanwhile, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, also stepped into the fray, defending the conservative head of the judiciary, Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, as one of the country's bravest and most trustworthy theologians.
Press warning
The English-language Tehran Times, which has avoided taking sides in the ideological struggle, warned that Iranian officials were in danger of giving a misleading impression to foreign observers by contradicting each other.
The paper said Iranian officials should "always think twice before talking and not spare room for misinterpretation by the foreign media, when referring to colleagues in other branches of the government".
The daily stressed that Iran was "passing through a very crucial period of history", and that its "economy, as President Khatami himself admitted, is sick".
`Act of revenge'
Mayor Karbaschi's first hearing (in Persian)
'Salam' and another reformist daily, 'Hamshahri,' argued that the Karbaschi trial was politically motivated and was an act of revenge for the conservatives' failure at the last elections. 'Salam' said the trial was "an assault against the people' s vote" - a reference to Mr Khatami's landmark election victory .
Meanwhile, conservative dailies, including 'Resalat' and 'Jomhuri-ye Eslami,' said it was the judiciary's prerogative to investigate mismanagement of public funds. 'Resalat' recently published an attack on the Iranian news agency IRNA, which has avoided bias in its reports on the court battle.
In the article, a Tehran deputy, Ali Movahhedi-Savoji, argued that IRNA "is not impartial and I believe that there are elements within the agency who are acting irresponsibly by filing inaccurate reports".
Another conservative daily, 'Kayhan' accused IRNA of "untimely dissemination of information" on the trial.
The radio and television meanwhile, though reporting on the trial extensively, have so far refrained from comment.
BBC Monitoring (http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk), based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.
"
Abdollah Nuri rejects Islam as standard for Societal Conduct in Iran
� l i t e r a t u r e �# 5: "Women and the Elections in the Islamic Republic of Iran - The challenges facing women politicians and their endeavours in improving women's rights under the Islamic Republic of Iran.
By Dr Ziba Mir-Hosseini
The struggle for women's rights in Iran dates back to the 19th century. Women were prominent in the political events leading to the Constitutional Revolution of 1906-11, but they were then forgotten as men monopolised power and power struggles, as so often happens in the aftermath of revolutions. Although the Pahlavi era (1925-79) saw major advances in women¹s rights, these were largely imposed from above and in the teeth of clerical opposition. Not surprisingly, then, the clerical victory in the 1979 Islamic Revolution saw a resumption of various ŒIslamic¹ restrictions on women: much publicised, as marks of women¹s renewed Œoppression¹, were the imposition of hejab (ŒIslamic covering¹) and the dismantling of the Family Protection Law that had curbed men¹s rights to divorce and polygamy.
But the Revolution led to many positive changes that neither the religious nor the secular opponents of the Shah had intended or predicted. Not least was a new critique of the gender biases in Islamic Law and a general raising of the nation¹s Œgender consciousness¹.
Since the revolution, matters concerning women, from their most private to their most public activities, have been openly debated and disputed by different factions, often in highly charged and emotional language. Consciously or not, everyone has been drawn into these debates, and forced to take a position. A range of positions regarding family law and other facets of women¹s rights were tolerated.
Eventually, by the early 1990s, new laws made it difficult for men to exercise their right to divorce, and the issue of enforced hejab came increasingly under question. Meanwhile, Iranian society has been changing radically.
Over 70 % of the population now live in urban areas, 60 % are under 25 years old, and 33 % are in education. Eighty percent of women are now literate; in 1998, 51%, and in 1999 57 % of University entrants were females.
The large majority of the population has no memory of the Revolution.
Elections are occasions when tensions come to the surface, positions are declared, and debates move on. The February 2000 elections for the Sixth Majles (Parliament) are taking place in a changed context and have a different dynamic from earlier ones.
The battle lines are more or less the same, but the rules have been changed by the unexpected victory of Mohammad Khatami in the 1997 presidential election, which has brought about a reformist movement and a free press and paved the way for Œdemocracy Iranian style¹, but against opposition from part of the clerical establishment.
The outcome of the February 2000 elections will have a decisive impact on Iran¹s crucial transition from theocracy to democracy, and just as women¹s votes were decisive in electing Khatami in 1997, so women are major players in this year¹s elections.
Politics and women¹s place in the Islamic Republic might now be radically different from what they were before the 1979 Revolution.
But one fundamental fact is unchanged: politics is still the man¹s domain, and the only women who enter the field are related, by blood or by marriage, to prominent men. As such, most women politicians are hostages, vulnerable to the political fortunes of these men, and only a few have managed to break free.
This vulnerability, and the painful challenges and contradictions of this time of transition, are nowhere more evident than in the cases of Faezeh Hashemi and Jamileh Kadivar. Both women come from political families, and entered politics in the Fifth Majles elections (1996). Hashemi, younger daughter of President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and the only woman in the Servants of Construction group, stood in Tehran. Kadivar, wife of Ataollah Mohajerani, one of the founding members of the same group, ran in Shiraz. The Servants of Construction broke away from the dominant Conservative faction and followed Rafsanjani¹s lead to run on a platform of ŒConstruction¹, hoping to break the Conservatives¹ control of the Majles. Both women advocated greater rights for women and identified themselves squarely as modernists in the battle with traditionalism.
In one of her pre-election speeches, Kadivar said that Article 1133 of the Iranian Civil Code, which gives men the absolute right to divorce, Œshould be changed under the guidance of the ulema and according to the requirements of the time.¹ This remark caused uproar. She was accused of Œwanting to take away men¹s right to divorce¹ and of Œinsulting the Quran¹. She was denounced by the Shiraz Friday Prayer Leader, and there were rumours she would be charged with heresy. Kadivar did not get into the Fifth Majles, even though she won the third highest vote in the first round of elections.
In Tehran, Faezeh Hashemi kept quiet on divorce, but broke other taboos. She promoted women¹s sports, and cycling in public. She was the first woman politician in the Islamic Republic who dared to wear jeans, clearly visible under her chador.
All these made her a target for those now termed ŒConservatives¹, who compared her to Ayesha, the Prophet¹s wife who led the Battle of the Camel against Ali, first ShiŒa Imam; but she became the darling of those who, after Khatami¹s unexpected victory in May 1997, became known as ŒReformists¹. The public welcomed her: in the Majles elections she won the second highest vote in Tehran. It was rumoured she was top of the poll, but the Conservative candidate (Nateq-Nuri) was declared the winner. A woman beating a cleric in the capital would have been a quite intolerable blow for the Iranian political system and its deeply rooted patriarchy.
It was within this patriarchal system that women deputies like Hashemi had to defend women¹s rights during the Fifth Majles.
Despite the highest number of women ever (fourteen), this parliament has the worst record on women¹s rights. It has ratified two infamous bills: one forcing medical services to adapt to religious law, and the other banning the Œexploitation of women¹s images¹ and Œthe creation of conflicts between men and women by propagating women¹s rights outside the legal and Islamic framework¹.
The first means that doctors can only treat patients of the same sex; the second prevents the press printing features on women, and terminates the lively debate on women¹s rights.
Both bills were part of a concerted effort by the Conservatives to frustrate the reforms promised by Khatami, by using his own slogan ŒThe rule of law¹. Ironically, both were drafted by the newly created Women¹s Commission of the Fifth Majles, and were proposed in the name of the defence of women¹s rights. Hashemi - and other Reformists in the Majles - opposed both bills, but to no avail. The two laws were, however, so far from the reality of Iranian society that it was impossible to implement them.
Meanwhile, Hashemi¹s own newspaper Zan (Woman) was another victim of the struggle between Reformists and Conservatives. In April 1999 the Revolutionary Court ordered it to close down; her father would not or could not come to her help.
The different press and public reactions to these two women now, compared with the run-up to the previous elections, can tell us something about how different this election is, and how far Iranian society has moved. Hashemi is no longer the icon of students and the youth. This has less to do with her actions during her term in parliament, than with her failure to distance herself from her father¹s decision at the end of 1999 to enter the election race.
Hashemi-Rafsanjani was nominated by the Conservatives, after all their attempts to curb and silence the Reformists and the press had failed.
He is seen as their last chance; despite their differences with him, they are prepared to stand behind him as a desperate tactic to avoid losing control of the Sixth Majles. Faezeh Hashemi has stood with her father, defending his record during the two terms of his Presidency (1989-97), and thus has lost the support of many Reformists.
Her place has been taken by women such as Jamileh Kadivar, who has consolidated her links with the Reformists. In February 1999, she nominated herself for the City Council in Tehran, and was elected. Meanwhile, her husband Ataollah Mohajerani, Khatami¹s Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, has been responsible for nurturing a press that is now freer than at any time in Iranian history, for which he was unsuccessfully impeached in the Majles in spring 1999.
Kadivar has become a household name; her brother Mohsen, a Reformist cleric, was convicted of 'insulting the Islamic Republic¹ following a much-publicized trial in the Special Clerical Court.
Another victim of this Special Clerical Court was Khatami¹s former Interior Minister, Abdollah Nuri, one of the boldest Reformers. The Conservatives successfully impeached him in June 1998, and then had him tried in late 1999 to rule him out of the 2000 elections. This proved an unwise move, as in his defence Nuri effectively indicted some of the Islamic Republic¹s harshly imposed rules, including compulsory hejab. As a former Minister and a man with impeccable religious and revolutionary credentials, what he said is particularly significant. While defending hejab as a religious rule, he advocated tolerance and recognition of reality.
'Hejab is among our religious obligations¹, he said, Œbut the fact is that this religious rule is not followed by some in society (including some Muslims), and government's effort to force these people to observe the rule of hejab has not been successful.¹
What to do with this reality, this fact?
The Islamic Republic¹s official answer so far has been to deny reality, or to force it into a straightjacket of legal rules, and to punish those who do not conform. But Nuri, reflecting the Reformist agenda, had a different proposal: to distinguish social reality from religious ideals and rules, to give people the choice whether or not to follow the mandates of their faith, which can never be enforced successfully, as the failure of the Islamic Republic¹s hejab policy has shown.
The solution is to accept reality and respect the social rights of those who do not conform to religious rules, however much we disapprove. In his words, Œan examination of the situation of contemporary society, and a glance at the past situation of Islamic societies, shows that these lifestyles (which in some respects are not compatible with religious rules) have been accepted as reality.¹
Such a radical departure from the old slogans led to a predictable reaction from the Special Clerical Court. Nuri is in jail, absent from the elections, but he has raised the stakes by making explicit what the Reformists have not dared to say during their campaign.
How will the voters react? They will, in effect, be voting for or against what Nuri said during his trial. His defence, published immediately after his conviction, is a best-selling book which has become the unofficial manifesto of the Reformists. Both Faezeh Hashemi and Jamileh Kadivar are now running in Tehran, but have taken different positions as regards Nuri. How will the voters receive them this time? ENDS ELECTIONS MIR HOSSEINI
* Dr Ziba Mir Hosseini, a London-based Academic and women's activist, she made the much acclaimed documentary "Iranian Divorce" that was shown on most world's televisions. * * This article was written for IRANMANIA, one of the Iranians best and successful sites. *"
Abdollah Nouri urges Iranian leader to restrain anti-Khatami hardliners
Abdollah Nouri urges Iranian leader to restrain anti-Khatami hardliners: "Abdollah Nouri urges Iranian leader to restrain anti-Khatami hardliners
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To: iran-news@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Abdollah Nouri urges Iranian leader to restrain anti-Khatami hardliners
From: Payman Arabshahi
Date: Thu, 10 Dec 1998 20:03:39 -0800 (PST)
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TEHRAN, Dec 10 (AFP) - Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wasurged on Thursday to help rein in Islamic hardliners who have waged a campaignto counter President Mohammad Khatami's reform program.
"How could a minority of pressure groups prevent a president with a solidpopular backing from carrying out his program?" asked former interior ministerAbdollah Nuri in an editorial in Khordad newspaper.
"Who in the world with such strong popular backing lacks the levers to exercise his power and faces various problems in pushing through his agenda?" he asked.
Nuri, a liberal cleric who directs Khordad, lamented that the president, who was elected in a landslide in May 1997, does not control the security forces to back up his reform program.
He said Khatami does not enjoy "appropriate powers to meet popular expectations of establishing security and guaranteeing constitutional rights and freedom."
"Khatami says he will not let people's rights and freedom to be violated, says he wants to enforce the rule of law. But how is this possible? Does he control the security and intelligence forces. Does the judiciary act in harmony with him?," he asked.
Nuri, who was impeached by parliament in June for his liberal policies, urged the leader "as the captain of the ship to think up a solution to end the regrettable and dangerous (political) dispute" in Iran "which has caused serious worries."
Khatami on Monday accused "conservative and traditionalist forces" on Monday of blocking reforms in the Islamic Republic.
"We are facing the three currents of counterrevolution, traditionalists hostile to progressive religion and revisionists," he said, vowing that his government was determined to "re-establish respect for the law" and defend public liberties.
Iran's conservative hardliners have sought to counter Khatami's reform agenda, fearing that it paves the way for Western cultural influences and undermines traditional values.
Islamic militants have waged a violent campaign against pro-Khatami students, intellectuals and newspapers, whom they call "anti-Islamic liberals.""
Street Demonstrations call for Interior Minister Noori's Impeachment
Brief on Iran, No. 854: "Khamenei's Faction Prepares to Oust Khatami's Interior Minister, Iran Zamin News Agency, March 10
The power struggle between the regime's rival factions further escalated with the demonstration yesterday of Khamenei's supporters in Tehran. The demonstrators called for the impeachment of Khatami's Interior Minister, Abdollah Noori. They accused Noori of "politically motivated appointments" and dismissal of governors affiliated with the rival factions.
Reports from within the regime indicate that governors ousted by Noori hold meetings to gather every available document and prepare for summoning the Interior Minister to Majlis. This faction has assigned a three-man team of its members in Majlis to prepare for the Impeachment."
Rafsanjani maneuvers against Anti-Velayat i-faqih reformists March1998
http://www.iran-e-azad.org/english/boi/08540311_98.html
Brief on Iran, No. 854 "Rafsanjani Plays "Wait and See" Game, Reuter, March 10
DUBAI - More than six months after stepping down as Iran's president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani remains a potent political force, analysts say.
"Rafsanjani still retains a great deal of power. He is certainly one of the top three powerful figures in government," said a Tehran-based analyst.
He now heads the Expediency Council, an influential advisory body that reports directly to Iran's spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
A conflict between Iran's contentious factions may thrust Rafsanjani, seen as well-connected in both camps, into a mediating role.
So far, the battle lines have been drawn in competing newspapers, sermons of religious leaders, and various power centers in Iran's political structure.
Occasionally, the conflict turns to violence. Last week, a group of conservative students affiliated with the hardline Ansar-e-Hezbollah clashed with students rallying in support of Khatami.
Particularly critical will be Rafsanjani's role in the current debate on the role of the spiritual leader in Iran's political system.
A growing number of voices have expressed opposition to the power vested in Khamenei, who is given absolute authority in Iran's government system.
Rafsanjani stepped into the debate for the first time on February 3.
"He realized how dangerous the continuation of these political disputes would be for the Islamic regime so he stepped in to mediate," said Amirali Nourbaksh, a Tehran-based political and economic consultant."
BBC News Abdollah Nouri - Pro-Montazeri former vice president and interior minister
BBC News | MIDDLE EAST | Profile of Abdollah Nouri: "Profile of Abdollah Nouri
Abdollah Nouri: Impeccable Islamic and revolutionary credentials
By BBC Iranian affairs analyst Sadeq Saba
One of the leading reformists in Iran, Abdollah Nouri, has been sentenced to five years in prison for political and religious dissent.
A Special Clerical Court found him guilty of publishing sacrilegious articles and opposing the teachings of the founder of the Islamic Republic, the late Ayatollah Khomeini.
Mr Nouri is one of the closest associates of the Iranian President, Mohammad Khatami, and a former vice president and interior minister.
Khomeini's protege
Abdollah Nouri is the most senior Islamic politician to be sentenced to prison since the Iranian revolution 20 years ago.
As a mid-ranking cleric, he has impeccable Islamic and revolutionary credentials and a long history of service to the Islamic Republic.
The leader of the Iranian revolution, the late Ayatollah Khomeini, appointed him as his representative to many important organisations, including the Revolutionary Guards.
The current supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, has also appointed him as a member of a powerful council which advises him on major policies.
Oustpoken reformer
Mr Nouri served as interior minister under the former president Hashemi Rafsanjani and he was a member of parliament when President Khatami won his stunning election victory two years ago. Mr Khatami gave him his old portfolio back despite fierce resistance from conservatives.
Mr Nouri was generally seen as the most outspoken reformist in the cabinet. He was also one of the most important officials to support the leading dissident cleric, Ayatollah Hussain-Ali Montazeri, who has been under house arrest for the last two years for questioning the authority of Ayatollah Khamenei.
Mr Nouri was sacked from his post of interior minister last year by the conservative-controlled parliament for his defence of political and social freedoms. But Mr Khatami immediately brought him back to his cabinet as a vice-president.
He stood down from this post to take part in the municipal elections in February and was elected as the leader of Tehran's city council. But he recently resigned this post as well to stand for next February's crucial general elections.
Newspaper his downfall
Mr Nouri established a daily paper, Khordad, last year, with the intention of supporting Mr Khatami's reformist policy. The paper has been advocating freedom of expression, human rights and a modern and democratic Islam.
It was the content of this newspaper which eventually provided his opponents with an opportunity to indict him.
Mr Nouri sees himself as loyal to the Islamic Republic and during his trial insisted that his activities were only for ensuring its survival. He believes that if people fail to achieve their demands through peaceful means, violence and revolution become inevitable.
Nonetheless, he is the "bete noire" of conservatives and it is believed that the supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, dislikes him. This is because he has been calling for limitations of his vast powers in the past few years.
Mr Nouri is well respected and he is seen as a man of high principles. His outspoken and aggressive defence during his trial has enhanced his popularity.
In the short term, his conviction is a severe blow to reformists. But in the long term, such actions may backfire."
Special Dispatch 9. February 2004 Grand Ayatollah Montazeri Interview
"Special Dispatch9. Februar 2004Grand Ayatollah Montazeri Interview: 'The Guardian Council Manipulates the Laws; It is a Betrayal of the Revolution'Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri , the highest ranking Iranian cleric, who led the Islamic Revolution along with Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini 25 years ago, gave a recent interview to the Italian daily Il Corriere della Sera . In the interview, he expressed his views on the conflict between reformists and conservatives in Iran, between the Majlis (Iranian parliament) and the Guardian Council , which recently rejected 3,600 of the 8,157 candidates for the coming election on February 20th. Ayatollah Montazeri, a founding father of the first Constitution of Iran after the revolution, was designated by Khomeini as his successor. But he was marginalized and held under house arrest from 1997 to 2003, accused of having criticized the current Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei . He is now free and lives in the holy Shi'ite city of Qum . "Outside his gate," writes Paolo Conti , the interviewer, "many worshipers line up to obtain Qur'anic interpretations from him. But many of his aids warn foreign visitors: 'Montazeri free? To tell you the truth, around here many apartments are occupied by people from the secret services that follow his every move.'" The following are excerpts from the interview: [1] Question: " What do you think of the current conflict between the political and religious institutions in Iran?" Ayatollah Montazeri: "At the beginning of the Islamic Revolution, we said regarding the elections: the Minister of the Interior and the Shah used to pick candidates to be voted, [but] now the election must be really free. We thought of a Council of Guardians to oversee the Ministry of the Interior, to make sure it did its work correctly, not to select the candidates… Then there was a revision of the Constitution, and I opposed it. They have manipulated it and put things upside down … all against our original intentions. Thus today, instead of free elections, we have a selection made by one faction of the electoral contest. All of this is illegal and anti-constitutional." Question: " So the spirit of the Islamic Revolution has been betrayed?" Montazeri: "[Acting] this way wounds the image of Iran, creating international qualms - and all this as a result of the illegal actions of a few. It is local experts from the cities that should evaluate the candidates; they are better informed of personalities and situations." Question: " You have contested the various special tribunals that proliferate and suffocate the Iranian justice system."
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2Montazeri: "They do not exist in the Constitution, which delegates judicial affairs to the Ministry of Justice. All of this disappoints the people, who become disgusted with the system. Khomeini wanted the special tribunals for a short time. They were supposed to disappear. After his death, they were re-instituted. The sentences of these tribunals are illegal. Such abuses happened before the Revolution, which in fact took place in order to prevent their occurrence. Instead, the same things are going on. And the people are not free." Question: " What do you think of the constant closure of reformist newspapers?" Montazeri: "Today in Iran, there is no freedom of the press. They have closed more than a hundred publications; honest and knowledgeable people have been deprived of their jobs. They have reduced newspapers to self-censorship. For instance, they are forbidden to write about me. If they do, they [the editors] are immediately summoned. There is repression, as before the Revolution…" Question: " You said: If this leadership does not change, the Islamic state itself is in danger. Do you think that the system may fall apart?" Montazeri: "The peoples' consensus is the basis for everything. The Islamic Republic means popular government. If the people are disappointed, they will stop believing in the Revolution or in Islam. There is a lot of aggressiveness from the system. Yet, the Qur'an speaks continuously of a God of love, clemency, and mercy. If there is rage and violence there will be rejection…" Question: "You do not have a good opinion of Khatami. Why?" Montazeri: "He talks a lot, but in practice he does little. Let's take [for example] the sit-in of the MP's to protest against the Guardian Council members' rejection of candidacies. Khatami should already have organized it three years ago, when the Guardians themselves rejected the electoral law. Khatami has adopted a tactic of quietism; he has avoided angering 'others.' But in fact what were these reforms? They were the implementation of the promises made at the beginning of the Revolution. Nothing special." Question: "You have also questioned Ali Khamenei's role…" Montazeri: "The [Supreme] Leader [Khamenei] should only give directions; basically guide. Instead, he puts himself above the law that is no longer in the hands of the Majlis. The new Article 110 of the Constitution gives him all the power, which is followed by the word 'absolute,' including control over the police and army, without being accountable to anyone. I opposed it… This is also why they ousted me. On the other hand, the President has all of the responsibilities but no power. That is the problem." Question: "How do you judge the repression of the student protests?" Montazeri: "They attacked these youths. They threw them to the ground and beat them… They should not have done it! Regarding young people our religion tells us: 'We must be like fathers, good [and] merciful.' In prayer we say: 'Oh, Prophet, you are sweet and good to everyone, if you were cruel and aggressive everyone would abandon you.' It is a lesson for those who govern. However … the Guardians have rejected three times a Majlis law to abolish censorship. If they have rejected it, this means they prefer torture." Question: " Recently you have also spoken against forbidding men and women to shake hands." Montazeri: "It is not forbidden [by Islam]. I have written everything in an opinion paper requested by Muslims living in Europe. Islam insists on respecting the interlocutor. If the woman does not find the gesture contrary to her self-respect, then it is allowed. It should be done mainly with non-Muslim women
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3that would interpret the lack of this gesture as impolite. As for Muslim [women], if it implies misconduct, then no, it is not allowed." [1] Il
Corriere della Sera (Italy), January 30, 2004. THE MIDDLE EAST MEDIA RESEARCH INSTITUTE (MEMRI)Linienstr. 115, 10115 BerlinTel.: +49-30-97893872/-3968, Fax: +49 (030) 97893975eMail: memri@memri.de, URL: www.memri.de© Copyright 2002 by The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) - memri.de. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.Weiternutzung der Inhalte nur bei vollständiger Nennung der korrekten Quelle."
Nouri used Khordad to back Montazeri against Khomeini's teachings
SCC public prosecutor: Khordad scted against revolution's goals: "10/30/99
SCC public prosecutor: Khordad scted against revolution's goals
Tehran, oct. 30, IRNA -- Public prosecutor of the special clerical court (SCC) trying managing director of the Persian daily 'Khordad' Abdollah Nouri here Saturday accused Nouri of manipulating the 'inflammatory situation in the society and fanning the flames in favor of his factional interests."
Hojatoleslam Mohammad Ebrahim Neko-nam's remarks opened Nouri's court procedures this morning in the presence of scores of reporters and photographers.
Enlisting Nouri's charges, hojatoleslam Neko-nam said the daily Khordad which appeared on newsstands last year with Abdollah Nouri as its managing director, was expected to move in line with the goals of the Islamic revolution and promulgation of the thoughts and aspirations of the late imam.
But, he stressed, as it was noticed later the paper took steps in an opposite direction and was turned into a platform for the expression of thoughts of certain hostile groups and a tool for assaulting the revolution.
He said the indictment which is a lawsuit against a cleric with positive revolutionary record, has been prepared against his legal personality in connection with the daily Khordad.
Hojatoleslam Neko-nam said conspiracy and hostility could be gathered out of the topics covered by the daily, adding that notifications which have been made to the daily's managing director so far have proved ineffective in this connection.
Insult and calumny against officials and institutions affiliated to the system, dissemination of fabrications in an attempt to disturb public opinion, disinformation against the Islamic Republic, confrontation with the imam's perspectives, publication of irreligious articles and sacrilege of sanctities are parts of the charges raised in the 44-page indictment against Abdollah Nouri.
The court trying Abdollah Nouri is presided over by hojatoleslam Mohammad Salimi with a jury comprising Abutorabi, Shobeiri, Mohammadi, Eraqi, Hosseinian, Sediqi, Doagou and Navab.
Hojatoleslam Mohsen Rahami, Abdollah Nouri's lawyer, defends his client.
Hojatoleslam Neko-nam said, "it was very hard for me to prepare the indictment against mr Nouri. But, I found out that mr Nouri is no more important for the country and the revolution than Mr. montazeri."
Elaborating on Nouri's charges against political publicity for montazeri, hojatoleslam Neko-nam said in his letter dated March 26, 1989, the late imam banned montazeri from interfering in political affairs and sacked him as his successor.
But, he told Nouri, "you propagated for him in the daily Khordad contrary to the explicit view of the imam."
Hojatoleslam Neko-nam further told Abdollah Nouri that in his capacity as a member of the supreme national security council he was expected to be highly active in following the imam's orders. "whereas, through publishing the daily Khordad you were active in propagating for Mr. Montazeri," said the SCC prosecutor general.
He said Abdollah Nouri who believed in following the imam's path, as a clergy and not the managing director of a daily, failed to obey the imam's decree in making it clear to all that the interests of the system are above all other things and that all should bide by such a commitment.
As for another charge concerning relations with the u.s., he said the imam considered the U.S. As the root cause of all calamities whereas Nouri, contrary to the imam's view and policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran undermined the enmity with the the U.S. and attempted to prepare the social-mental grounds for the establishment of relations with the United States. As his evidence, hojatoleslam Neko-nam pointed to a series of articles in the daily Khordad.
Elsewhere in his remarks, he said in the past two decades the policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in connection with Israel has remained a policy of non-recognition as the imam believed that the zionist regime is a catastrophe for the Islamic states.
However, he pointed out that the daily in its jan. 16, 1999 issue, termed Iran's opposition to the israeli peace process as an extremist slogan and cast doubt over Iran's policies in the past two decades.
Demanding Nouri's justifications for his alleged adherence to imam's line, hojatoleslam Neko-nam said if Nouri had not seen the items printed in the daily, therefore, he is no more qualified to run it. But, if he had deliberately attempted to print those article, a serious doubt emerges about his advocacy to the imam's path.
On Nouri's charge for publicizing in favor of the 'freedom movement of Iran', he said in the course of the provisional government, the fmi's stances such as separation of religion from politics and relations with the U.S. Finally led to its exclusion from the government and later was announced unauthorized by the imam.
But, said hojatoleslam Neko-nam, Abdollah Nouri named the group as 'freedom movement' in the daily Khordad and officially published their statements.
Neko-nam said defense of "national movement" grouping was among other accusations levelled against Nouri. He said one of the groups present on the political scene before the revolution was the national movement. The movement was called as apostate by father of the Islamic revolution and founder of the Islamic Republic the late imam Khomeini, he added.
Publication of unislamic and sacrilegious articles are among other accusations raised against Nouri, he added.
He referred to publication of an article on June 10 issue of Khordad daily and said that it had ridiculed the society committed to religion.
He said the article had accused such societies of imposing "unrealistic" norms on their members. He referred to wearing black dress, refusing to use light colored clothes, refusing to eat sandwich and pizza, refraining from rejoicing during mourning months of moharram and safar, keeping beautiful women at homes and refusing to apply perfumes as examples of such norms.
The court jury said author of the article had levelled unjust accusations against such institutions as the guardians council, the law enforcement forces, the judiciary and the Islamic Republic of Iran's broadcasting (IRIB).
"Given the fact that heads of the bodies are appointed by supreme leader of the Islamic revolution ayatollah Ali Khamenei, then one can say that the author had in fact brought the leader under question by writing such an article," he added.
The article negated the principle of enjoining the good and prohibiting the evil, that is one of the necessities of the religion, said Neko-nam, adding that in fact, the author, who has rejected one of the necessities of the religion is apostate. "mr. Nouri, as managing director of the daily, too has embarked on propaganda against such necessities," he added.
Neko-nam referred to articles 500, 513, 514, 608, 609, 697 and 698 of Islamic penal code and to note 47 of the law, calling for punishment of Nouri.
Following Neko-nam's remarks, head of the court hojatoleslam Mohammad Salimi divided accusations levelled against Nouri into five parts.
Insult to officials of the system, publication of fabrics with an aim to distort public opinion and disturb others, propaganda against the Islamic Republic system, confrontation with views of the late imam Khomeini, insult to the late imam and in some cases to supreme leader of Islamic revolution ayatollah Ali Khamenei, publication of articles running counter to religious laws and Islamic sanctities are among accusations levelled against Nouri, said Salimi.
Meanwhile, Nouri told the court that due to various reasons the special court for the cleric was illegal and incompetent to deal with his case.
Based on court proceeding and of the SCC, the accused is not free to chose his attorney, said Nouri, adding that the jury members are elected by the court and this increases the possibility of the court being influenced by any motive.
He said there is a problem with investigation of press offenses at the court and per article 168 of the press law court hearings for press offenses should be open.
Nouri said the jury members attend courts as people's representatives. The 14 members of the jury are elected by head of the city council, head of the justice department and the culture and Islamic guidance minister, said Nouri, adding that presence of seven out of the 14 members at the court is necessary, he added.
The managing director of daily Khordad said the jury, elected by the SCC, is not the one elected by the said institutions, therefore, it is not legal. The court too has to use members of the legal jury, he added.
Nouri said jury members of the court cannot be impartial because they are not representatives of people.
"Does election of the jury members by judge mean defending the rights of the accused or that of the court?
"Can such a jury decide for a daily whose readers are people at large?" questioned Nouri.
Hojatoleslam Mohsen Rahami, the attorney of Nouri, told the court that knowledge about records of an individual can help the court investigate his or her case.
"Why charges of dailies 'khaneh' and 'jahan-e Islam' were investigated at justice department despite the fact that their managing directors are clergymen?" questioned Rahami.
He said that his understanding of charges raised against Nouri differs from that of Mr. Neko-nam.
"Our goal in raising incompetency of the (SCC) court and the jury is not meant to criticize the late imam or leader of the Islamic revolution ayatollah Ali Khamenei," said Rahami.
He said the bill of indictment prepared by the SCC is not in accordance with the law.
Neko-nam said in reply: "does Mr. Nouri think that he is innocent or he is unlikely for him to commit crime or supposes that possession of posts or revolutionary records would bar him from making mistakes?"
Article 98 of the constitution entrusts the task of interpreting the laws to the guardins council and the council has not yet announced any wrong interpretation, he added.
He said that in October 1991 the state expediency council commissioned the SCC to choose jury.
The guardians council, Majlis, the expediency council and government consider the SCC legal and Mr. Nouri and his attorney call it illegal, neko-nam said.
Following neko-nam's remarks, Salimi said the SCC did not run counter to the constituion and if such issue as competency of the court is raised to prevent investigation of any case, it should be said that such a thing is impossible.
He said the court cannot rule in tune with the will of the accused.
He added that Nouri's case has been referred to the SCC after investigation by other courts.
Rejecting protest raised by the accused and his attorney against competency of the court, Salimi said: "the court considers itself competent to deal with the case."
Judges of the SCC are the ones engaged in country's judicial system, he added.
He said next court hearing for Nouri would be held on November 1.
© Copyright 1999 NetNative"
Links Montazeri to Gandji to Mohajerani Against Rafsanjani
The Number of Political Figures that are summoned by the court or imprisoned is increasing: "3/16/01
The Number of Political Figures that are summoned by the court or imprisoned is increasing
Source: Payam Emrooz, Monthly Review
With the trial of Tajzadeh, the weekly review of Jameh Madani, re-examined the analysis presented in its first issue: ‘on the basis of a totalitarian approach and negligence of the regulations of the game, the conservative wing has set the task of omission of the valuable key figures of the President as its primal task and intends to omit the President’s men before the next presidential election in order to make access to Mr. Khatami easier.’ Following this introduction, exclusion of Mr. Mohajerani and initiation of two legal cases against him, exclusion of Tajzadeh, attempts to prepare a legal case against Mohammad Ali Abtahi, the head of the presidential office and to summon Mohammad Reza Khatami the first man of Participation Front (Jebheh Mosharekat) with the excuse of the presence of certain illegal acts at the time of his deputyship in the Ministry of Health… are regarded as a part of the plan that the conservatives intend to carry out. At the end of the aforementioned article, Jameh Madani writes, ‘if we keep silent against these poisonous political plans, we should await more serious crises.’ Mohsen Armin, MP and the deputy of the parliamentary commission of national security and foreign policy had previously warned that the reformists should prepare themselves for much more difficult times.’ In order to prove his point, Armin had referred to the uncertain future of some of the activists recently arrested and said, ‘it is heard that there has been a serious attempt to force these people to sit for an interview.’
In a speech in Feizieh (religious school of Ghom), Mohseni Ezhehii, in reply to the question posed in relation to the arrest of Saiid Montazeri, said, some of the people arrested in connection with the circulation of pamphlets confessed that Saiid Montazeri had given them those pamphlets, although we first hesitated to arrest him, but when we inspected his house we found classified documents that approved of his involvement in this case. He then emphasized that the documents show that those individuals and trends writing and talking against the Revolution are supported by Mr. Montazeri. He talked about considerable amounts of monetary aid particularly paid to Yusefi Eshkevari, Ezatolah Sahabi, Ali Afshari, Akbar Ganji, Emadoldin Baghi that are now in jail and Ms. Azam Taleghani and Daftar Tahkim Vahdat (a reformist student organization). In another part of his speech, Mohsen Ezheii, without mentioning Ganji’s name said, one of the detainees has confessed that we received money to defame Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani (‘we got 30 millions toumans from …to defame…’ but there are people in the government and the parliament who support Ganji’s family ever since he was arrested. He then referred to the annual 200 millions toumans budget allocated to the special court of clergy and accused the ex-minister of Ershad, Mohajerani of paying a considerable sum of money from the interests of bank deposits for Haj (pilgrimage) to buy Ganji’s book which immediately was officially denied by Mohajerani.
Meanwhile a letter addressed to the President and signed by 132 clergies of Feizieh of Ghom demanded the release of Saiid Montazeri who had been seriously injured during the war and was arrested while being hospitalized to the great pain he was suffering. But the news published about the famous press and political prisoners imply that on the whole they are in good physical conditions, even though in certain cases the causes of their arrest and the place of their detainment is still unknown. Hoda Saberi, one of the editors of the banned journal ‘Iran Farda’ is one of the journalists recently sent to prison by the verdict of Revolution Court. His family does not know where he is detained and Taghi Rahmani – who is now under persecution of the court in Shahr Kurd – evaluated Saber’s arrest as a part of the plan to exert pressure on reformist movement. Ali Afshari and Ezatolah Sahabi were also arrested by the verdict of the same court.
The last relevant person imprisoned is Bagher Vali Beik- one of the veteran managers of Revolution now working for the private sector. He was summoned to the court by the famous judge Mortazavi in connection with his position as the director general of the company Jameh Rooz, the company that used to publish the trend-making newspapers Tous, Neshat, Asr Azadegan and Goonagoon. Vali Beik known in the political society of Iran as Chamran’s close associate, used to work as the director of Iranian news agency in Japan and as the head consul in Europe for years.
On the first day after the annual celebration of Revolution (Fajr), the courts were very busy. In addition to Vali Beik, Ramezanzadeh, the governor of Kurdestan, Ahmad Bourghani and Elaheh Koulaii, MPs, and Alireza Rajaii, journalist were summoned to the court. On the other hand, concern for the conditions of Ezatolah Sahabi and Ali Afsahri was continuing, as nobody knew where they were detained. The legal authorities claimed that they were in a prison supervised by the general office of prisons, Evin’s authorities emphasized that they were not in Evin, until five days after the extension of the temporary arrest of Sahabi on the basis of new accusations, the head of the parliamentary commission of clause 90 of the constitutional law revealed his visit to Alizadeh and said that Afshari and Sahabi were transferred to Evin. The next day the newspapers announced that they were in the solitary ward 240 of Evin prison and other journals published the news of the letter that Sahabi’s daughter has written to Mandella, the ex-president of South Africa and the Nobel Prize winner who had also been in jail for 27 years because of his struggles against racial discrimination in South Africa.
Meanwhile, Shamsolvaezin, being in prison since 10 months ago faced new accusations that are related to articles published while he was already in jail. Shamsolvaezin who insists on not wearing the prison uniform and did not attend his last court for this reason, although he was taken to the court without uniform at one o’clock has not been allowed to visit his mother hospitalized due to some cardiac dysfunction. Latif Safari, now sharing the same cell with Shamsolvaezin, Baghi and Ganji, too has not so far been able to take a leave of absence. In a letter to Alizadeh, Safari has answered a part of Alizadeh’s letter to MPs where in reply to the question of MPs in relation to what might be the reason for temporary arrest of the journalists he had referred to the possibility of their escape and had used Latif Safari’s case as an example – Alizadeh had said that Safari did not report himself to the court although he had received the official papers in this regard. Safari who was at that time busy was campaigning for the sixth parliamentary election believes that this is a vain accusation as he could be easily accessed throughout that time and everybody knew where he lived and worked. According to the newly approved parliamentary bill that allows the prisoners who have spent one fifth of their term to buy the rest of it, Latif Safari and Shamoslvaezin could be released at the beginning of the next Iranian year.
Akbar Ganji, the most clamorous prisoner of ward 325, created another scandal after his recent interview with Reuter published both in Guardian and Herald Tribune. The questions were secretly delivered to Ganji and he wrote the answers and again sent them out secretly. After the publication of this interview, Ganji’s brother protested against the distortion of his brother’s answers by the foreign press. Ms. Jeneive Abdu, Guardian’s representative in Iran, who left Tehran together with his husband, the head of Reuter’s news agency in Tehran, a few days after the publication of this interview in Guardian defended the content of her published article once outside the country. In reply to the question ‘why hasn’t Mr. Khatami adopted any direct position in relation to your case’ Ganji who presented the content of this interview to Iranian newspapers had said, ‘Khatami is extremely busy and therefore he has no time to deal with my case. I don’t expect anything from him. If he paves the path of transition of Iran to democracy and freedom, it is not at all important if people like Ganji stay in prison.’
Another prisoner, Ahmad Zeidabadi, attracted attention last month during his fourth trial when he was faced with two new accusations, one dealing with national security of the country that automatically implied that his court had to be held behind the closed doors. His wife who was not allowed to meet his husband at the beginning and just managed to send their small son to the room to spend a few minutes with his father said, ‘so far my husband has gone through 150 hours of investigation and has answered all the question of the judge. I don’t know how they can justify their claim that the court for this type of accusations, dealing with published articles, should be held behind the closed doors.’ A few days after this trial, Zeidabadi was informed that he is to be transferred to another ward. He resisted against this order for two days, but when he went to the sickbay of the prison for medical examination, on his return he found the door of the ward closed to him and he was transferred to Hall 5 where Behnoud, Ghoochani and Amir Farsahd Ebrahimi were previously detained.
Zeidabadi immediately started a hunger strike that although it shocked the juridical power and the rightist newspapers, it produced an immense concern among journalists and the reformist press. The members of the society defending freedom visited his family and once the news of Zeidabadi’s internal bleeding was spread they urgently asked him to put an end to his hunger strike. Zeidabadi then accepted their request and in a letter while appreciating their great efforts in defending the rights of prisoners, he emphasized that he should have been kept in the same ward 325, in the first place, but when he accepted his transfer to hall 3 where the students are imprisoned, he was again deprived of it and he was left with no other alternative than going on a hunger strike. When his wife appealed to Mortazavi the judge to let her see her husband as she was so worried for his state of health, the judge had said, ‘Zeidabadi is trying to improve his wrinkles and that is why he is now trying water therapy, but he pretends that he is on hunger strike. While the rightists’ press was claiming all sorts of things to prove that Zeidabadi’s hunger strike is just a show, Ansari Raad, MP received permission to visit him in prison and approved his hunger strike. His wife who finally managed to get the required permission to see him said that he had lost about 10 kilos and could not keep his balance. On the basis of the regulations of the prison that when a prisoner goes on hunger strike, he should be transferred to a solitary cell and the public wards refuse to accept such prisoners, Zeidabadi agreed to put an end to his strike and Mortazavi the judge announced that he gained nothing in this process, but he was taken back to his previous ward and the day of his trial was finally determined.
Another hunger strike whose news permeated out of the prison, was that of Amir Farshad Ebrahimi whose statements about the event of the university campus recorded on a tape and delivered to the lawyers of the students had many grave consequences including the trial of Mohsen Rahami and Shirin Ebadi, the students’ lawyers. This case actually introduced a new term, ‘tape-makers’ to our political literature. Once Ebrahimi, who is now over a year that is in jail, started his hunger strike, his parents sought sanctuary in front of the Parliament. In reply to a parliamentary investigation group in relation to the case of ‘tape-makers’, Alizadeh forbade them to interfere with juridical affairs and announced that the case of Ebrahimi, the former member of Ansar Hezbolah, has been surrendered to Supreme Court. Ebrahimi who was taken to a solitary cell put an end to his strike. The authorities promised him that because he has spent a third of his term, he can ask to be released once he receives his final verdict.
Another relevant news was the letter of the lawyer of Amir Entezam, the prisoner who so far has spent the longest term in Evin to the parliamentary commission of the clause 90, in which he had disclosed that Revolution Court has not answered his request for another trial and also the reasons for Amir Entezam’s imprisonment.
At the same time that there were anxious statements published nearly daily in relation to the absolute lack of news about the place where Ali Afshari is kept, it was suddenly announced that his father Taghi Afshari, the chief editor of a weekly review published in Ghazvin has been imprisoned on the basis of publishing an article in which the juridical power was attacked and undermined. He was released two days later, but was arrested again by the verdict of the court ‘Hadis Ghazvin.’
Another court in Ghazvin summoned Fatemeh Govaraii – one of figures of the political trend known as national-religious - and tried her behind the closed doors. Ghovaraii received two new accusations in which she was accused of undermining the esteem of the holy act of judgment. Ms. Govaraii has announced that if they do not resolve the defects of the process of investigation of her case, she would complain to the parliamentary commission of the clause 90.
In Zanjan, the court dealt with accusations of Ahmad Hakimipour, the editor of Omid Zanjan in the presence of jury. At the end of the trial Hakimipour, that was the only trial held in the presence of jury in the last month, he said, he was quite content with the course of his trial and said such trials particularly when held under proper legal conditions in towns is a positive step toward the execution of civil law and development of civil behavior.
Mohamad Hossein Alipour, the editor of the banned weekly review, Aban, was also tried last month. At the end of his trial he announced that at the beginning there were only two complaints against Aban, but then in the course of investigation 37 additional complaints were added to his case. He has two weeks to prepare his defense.
In Boushehr, a court tried Yunes Ghimizadeh, the editor of the weekly review Breeze of the South, due the case raised by the Town House because of the publication of the article ‘those guilty of the crisis of sewage channels of the city’ in this review.
Finally the last guest of the ward reserved for the clergy, Hojatoleslam Ali Afsahi, the editor of the weekly review, Cinema Sport condemned to four month of imprisonment and prohibition to wear the religious robe by the special court of clergy, protested against his second penalty in a letter addressed to the parliamentary commission of the clause 90. He has asserted that such penalty is for those who publicly commit any form of fraud. Ali Afsahi who was active in holding conferences on the discussion on religion and cinema, was frequently criticized by different journals because of his problematic views. For the first two weeks of his imprisonment he was detained in the ward of ordinary prisoners and was then transferred to the ward 325 where he is apparently busy teaching English to Abdolah Nouri and Yusefi Eshkevari.
Abdolah Nouri can be perhaps regarded as the most quite political prisoner in recent months. He spends his time in an empty quite cell reading and exercising, and although he is allowed to use the phone, and last month he took a short leave of absence, but he avoids the press and strangers, while on the other side of the yard, in the ward 325, Ganji, Baghi, Shamsolvaezin not only never miss such opportunities, but they frequently send letters or messages to outside. For example, Shamsolvaezin who has been selected as the journalist of the year by Index de Censorship, an organization defending human rights, has asked his wife to keep the prize if non-monetary and in case there were any amount of money accompanying the prize, to donate it to charity organizations working for welfare of children.
The evacuation of the ward that until three weeks ago was the host of about 220 prisoners and now only four people, can be regarded as the readiness of the office of prisons to receive a higher number of pro-reformists and men of letters, but according to the wife of one of the prisoners, new prisoners are not sent to this ward, but they are taken to other prisons. This is when everybody insists to remain in or be transferred to the ward 325. The evacuation of this band has taken place at the price of the overcrowding of the other wards and according to Zeidabadi there are not enough beds for all the prisoners and so they are forced to sleep on the floors.
As the juridical power in general and the department responsible for the legal affairs of the state employees in particular, is becoming more active, all those parties that oppose the government of Mr. Khatami are now supporting this power more enthusiastically than before. The heads of this wing defended the judge and the verdicts issued for those who had participated in Berlin Conference as powerfully as they did when the verdicts of the case of chained assassinations, those responsible for Hajarian’s terror and finally those that attacked the students in the university campus were issued. On the other hand the reformists criticized the juridical power by their members and representatives in the parliament. Their most clamorous act was their second letter addressed to Mr. Shahroudi that led to serious reactions. Nabavi, ex-MP and the chief editor of Resalt newspaper said in a speech, ‘the parliament is now the place to defend a few tyrant criminals’ and his newspaper called this letter ‘coup d’etat against the juridical power and cooperation with foreigners.’
Karoubi, who was very angry for the fact that the scandal of the above letter had been extended to the public session of the parliament too, said, ‘we have poisoned the political air of the country, that is why some of the MPs sign something and then try to take it back’ referring to Kehyan’s doubt expressed in relation to whether there were really 150 signatures under the letter of protest of the MPs to Mr. Sharoudi or not. The letter was read in the public parliamentary session by Naiimipour and among other things there was this request from Mr. Shahroudi to compare the verdict of the case of university campus and Hajarian’s terror, with that of Berlin conference.’
The conflict between the two political wings is not limited to the courts and juridical power. It is also reflected in minor incidents, such as the arrest of those present in three parties held during Christmas time. After two days of propaganda and outrageous titles appearing on the first page of the anti-reformist newspapers, the event was all of a sudden hushed down. According to a widespread rumor, the owners of the houses where the parties were held were closely associated with a specific political wing. The guests belonged to wealthy families that when on the next day of the event, assembled in front of the court where their children were kept they indeed formed a large crowd. While driving their expensive cars and holding their mobile phones, they were all busy to find a solution and managed to release their relatives from the prison by paying large sums of money. Some of the guests were whipped as well.
Then there were a few days of silence, until some of the MPs requested to investigate the case further and a newspaper published in English reported the removal of the deputy of the commander of the military forces on the basis of the fact that he had done nothing to prevent these parties to take place although he had received the relevant information long before. Also the report of the head of the parliamentary commission of national security and foreign policy showed that responsible systems knew about the forthcoming parties at least a week before they were actually held and they knew very well that certain illegal acts were bound to happen. Simultaneously there appeared a report on the trade of prostitutes in a weekly review published by Deh Namaki (a very radical and active member of Hezbolah). So when the film taken from the different stages of the arrest of the guests was shown for the members of the parliamentary commission of national security a rumor spread that these parties were held as a part of the intrigue against Mr. Khatami, such as the one now known as the Carnival of Ashoura held at the time of his election.
-- Translated for payvand.com by Roya Monajem, royamonajem@yahoo.com"
