TRIAL OF IRAN FREEDOM MOVEMENT MEMBERS STARTED BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

TEHRAN 11 Nov. (IPS)             Iranian Jurists and lawyers denounced the behind closed doors trial of members of the Iran Freedom Movement (IFM) and nationalist-religious groups as “illegal.

On orders from Ayatollah Ali Khameneh’i, the fundamentalist leader of the Iranian Islamic regime, the Judiciary, that is under his direct control, launched a massive crackdown on the movement and groups last March, arrested more than 60 members of the movement and the groups, including former ministers, scholars, intellectuals and journalists, raided their houses and offices and pronounced them as “outlaw”.

The authorities say because the charges are of national security concern, the trial of the detainees, at an Islamic revolution court, is being held secretly.

"Considering that the accusations in this case fall in the category of actions against national security with the aim of overthrowing (the regime), publicising the hearings of the court would disrupt security and public order in the country" said a Justice Ministry statement, quoted by the official news agency IRNA.

Such charges in the Islamic Republic could carry death penalty, although some twenty out of the sixty accused had been freed on bail recently.

The statement added that the case includes remarks by some of the accused on the country's top clerics, which "will hurt religious feelings" if they are broadcast, adding: “it would be inadequate to publicise some of the others allegations made by the accused against several current and former officials of the Islamic republic”.

But as usual, the authorities failed to explain, did not name the “top clerics” or the “current and former officials” involved.

“Though charges of plotting against the security of the state that is brought against the detainees is a joke, yet, if we accept them as claimed by the authorities, they turn to be political and as such, need not to be heard in secret courts”, said Mr. Mohammad Ali Safari, a lawyer in Tehran.

Families of the 30 defendants who were brought to court Sunday were barred from the audience, held during the absence of the lamed President Mohammad Khatami, who is in New York for the ongoing session of the United Nations’ General Assembly. Four reformist MMs (Member of the Majles, the Iranian parliament) who had asked to be allowed to court were also refused.

The trial is part of the never stopping campaign by the conservatives, led by Mr. Khameneh’I, against the reformists who advocate limited democracy.

The prosecution has been condemned by international human rights groups, and by reformists within Iran, including Mr. Khatami.

Security was tight around the Islamic revolutionary court in central Teheran as the trial got underway. Journalists were barred from the court, and were not allowed even to stand outside in the street.

Lawyers for the accused have been warned not to talk to the press, so information about the trial was scarce.

Intelligence Minister Ali Yunesi had earlier reported to parliament that activities of the IFM and the nationalist-religious did not justify the charges laid against them by the judiciary.

"Up to now, just 20 of them have received a summons for the first part of the trial", said Mr. Sadr Haj Seyed Javadi, a lawyer, a former Justice Minister and member of the IFM, cited by the press.

The Movement was founded by Mr. Mehdi Bazargan, Iran’s post Islamic revolution’s provisory Prime Minister in 1979, and driven from power several months later.

The activities of the IFM were tolerated up until the wide-ranging arrests in March, but have since been banned.

In July, the judiciary issued an arrest warrant for IFM chief Ebrahim Yazdi, who had gone to the United States for medical treatment, accusing him and his political associates of "acting against the internal security of the state."

The New York-based Human Rights Watch, in a statement, said the court proceedings fell far short of international standards for fair trials.

“The only crime of the accused was to have exercised their right of free assembly and expression, HRW said, adding that they were being used as pawns in a power struggle. ENDS IFM TRIAL 111101