AHMAD BATEBI REACHED SWEDEN
PARIS 3 Oct. (IPS) Mr. Ahmd Batebi, a young Iranian student who was condemned
to death for being photographed with the blood stained T-shirt of a fellwo
student who was shot dead by security guards during the students uprising of
July 1999 has reached Sweden, according to an Iranian students organisation.
The picture of the Christ-looking Mr. Batebi decorated the cover of the prestigious British magazine "The Economist", prompting the Islamic authority of Iran to condemn him to death.
But his death sentence was commuted to 15 years imprisonment under heavy pressures from national and international rights groups. The British National Union of Students made him a Honorary Member.
In a dramatic "public letter" written while in prison, Mr. Batebi depicted the gloomy situation of Iranian political prisoners; the tortures they are subjected by the Islamic authorities and the ill treatments the prisoners suffer, including their mixing with criminals.
The letter, that shocked the international public opinion, was translated and distributed by the Los Angeles-based Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy in Iran that has branches inside Iran.
Sources in Stockholm involved in getting Iranian political prisoners out of Iran confirmed that Mr. Batebi was in Sweden, but said they don’t know about his whereabouts.
"We know that he arrived two days ago, but, apparently, he is under police custody, for fear of being abducted by Iranian agents", one source told Iran Press Service on condition of anonymity.
Mr. Batebi had been granted a one-month conditional leave, enough for him and friend to work out his escape from Iran. ENDS BATEBI IN SWEDEN 31002