January 9, 2002
Closed Trial Begins in Tehran for Dissidents Accused of Plot
By NAZILA FATHI
EHRAN, Jan. 8 — Iran's hard- line Revolutionary Court began the trials of 15 dissidents today. Most of them are writers and intellectuals and are charged with plotting to overthrow the Islamic system.
Those men and numerous others have been arrested since last year in what is seen as an effort by hard- liners, who control the judiciary, to weaken supporters of President Mohammad Khatami's agenda for political and social reform. Fourteen other dissidents were tried in November; no ruling has been issued.
The 15 men whose trial began today are members of the National Religious Alliance and were arrested during several raids last year. Nine were released on bail last summer, but the others have remained in jail.
The men have been kept in a prison in a Revolutionary Guards military installation in central Tehran, which is not part of the penal system and does not come under its supervision. The men's families say they have been kept in difficult conditions, mostly alone in small cells.
Under Iran's Constitution, political prisoners must be tried by jury in open courts. But these trials are being conducted behind closed doors, with no jury, and the judge and prosecutor are one and the same.
Dozens of family members gathered near the Revolutionary Court today holding pictures of the detainees and banners objecting to the way their trials were being carried out. "Public accusations but closed trials," and, "The trial must be public," read the banners.
The men's lawyers were quoted by a newspaper as saying that they were denied access to information about the case until last week, when they were asked to sign a letter saying that they would not disclose the contents of the case to the public.
"We refused to sign it because this is an illegal request," said Ablofatah
Soltani, the lawyer for several of the detainees, according to the daily
Norouz. As a result, the judge did not permit the lawyers to study the several-hundred-page indictment or to meet with the prisoners.
"The reality is that the court has no evidence against them other than distorted confessions that have been extracted under duress," said Nargess
Mohammadi, the wife of Taqi Rahmaini, one of those on trial, who has been in prison since March. "Otherwise, there is no reason why the trials should not be public."
Ezatollah Sahabi, a former cabinet minister who is among those on trial, said today in court that descriptions in conservative newspapers of his alleged confessions were lies, said one person familiar with the proceedings.
The conservative daily Keyhan had reported that Mr. Sahabi confessed that he intended to propagate violence and to overthrow the Islamic system. Mr.
Sahabi, who has been in jail for over a year and whose health has deteriorated, rejected all the accusations and demanded that his defense be public.
One lawyer, Muhammad Ali Dadkhah, who represents two of the defendants, said he had been barred from court today for what he was told was a violation of procedures during the trials in November. "I was prevented from defending my clients," he said. "They are standing trial without legal representation."
Families of the prisoners appealed this week for help to the speaker of Parliament, Mehdi
Karroubi, but he was able to offer only sympathy. In an hourlong meeting, he acknowledged that the lawyers would not be able to defend their clients without knowing what they were accused of and said that the men had been "critics, and not opponents."
Mr. Khatami's representative on the Committee to Oversee the Implementation of the Constitution, Hossein
Mehrpour, had his request to visit the prisoners rejected by the judiciary.
Human Rights Watch also condemned the prosecution.
The National Religious Alliance contributed to the victory of the Islamic revolution but its members were marginalized after the religious rulers took power. Since the 1997 presidential election, the party had supported Mr. Khatami.
Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company |
