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PACIFIST ACTIVIST SAYS ACCUSED STUDENT'S LEADERS ARE INNOCENT
TEHARAN-WASHINGTON-PARIS 22 July (IPS)
As the ruling Iranian conservatives continue to present new dissidents students "confessing" on the Television to moral, propaganda and financial support they received from "outside", an Iranian scholar who helped two of them to come to United States and raised funds for their organisation offered to stand witness and documents at hand, prove their innocence.
"I will appear in any court of law including Iranian courts, if needed, in order to exonerate these young men of the charge against them", Mr Mohammad Hassibi said, calling on the United Nations General Secretary Kofi Annan to do "anything in his power and the power of the United Nations "to clear up any misunderstandings", for, he warned, the lives of these young men depend on it". (See Mr. Hassibi's letter below).
Mr Hassibi's letter was made public as the Iranian conservatives-controlled media showed Mr. Qolamreza Mohajeri-Nezhad, the Deputy General Secretary of the secular Association of iranian Nationalist Students (ANIS) disclosing information about the strategy of the "revolution's enemies" to provoke dissension and clashes and admitting that he and his colleagues were "assigned" by exiled dissidents to provoke violence during the recent unrest in Tehran.
Since such "Television confessions" by dissidents and opponents of the Islamic regime of Iran, orchestrated by the Information (Intelligence) Ministry and the "Voice and Visage" (Islamic Republic's Radio and Television), both of them directly controlled by the leader, the ayatollah Ali Khameneh'i, are routine, no one in Iran or abroad is impressed and few even watch or listen to them.
The television showed a badly beaten and tortured Mohajeri-Nezhad accusing Mr. Manouchehr Mohammadi, his colleague and friend, of "pushing for radical, emotional and deviant slogans" to trigger clashes at Tehran University's dormitories. He also "reiterated" that during their 4 months-long trip made last autumn to Turkey, United States and Germany, nationalist dissidents had asked them to provoke clashes which could be blamed on the Ansar Haezbollah and the Law Enforcement Forces.
"An active member of the National Front in America insisted expressly that in order to topple the present Islamic regime, an atmosphere of violence should be created", Mr. Mohajeri-Nezhad was heard on both Radio and Television.
All names of Iranian dissidents and organisations that offered money and materials to the ANIS leaders were censored by the authorities.
Mr. Mohammadi was the first to be shown on the Television to make his confessions. He was accompanied by Ms. Malous Radnia, better known as Ms. Maryam Shansi, a female activist close to Mr. Mohammadi and his organisation, one of the student's smallest but most controversial groups.
On Wednesday, another dissident student identified as Rahim Reza'i was presented to the public posing as the "link" between nationalist opponents abroad with Mr. Mohammadi's organisation.
The aim of the Intelligence Ministry and the public media in orchestrating the poorly fabricated televised confessions is to demonstrate that the GLIR (Great leader of the Islamic Revolution) is absolutely right when he repeatedly says and warns that foreigners, jealous of the tremendous success accomplished by the regime in all fields, are fomenting troubles at home.
Iranian state television quoted the ministry as saying that the man had been "one of those linking dependent internal elements to overseas and the provider of part of the funding for carrying out the schemes of the enemies of Iran's Moslem nation."
According to the 40 years-old Reza'i, he was asked by responsible from a dissident group in a European country to provide an undisclosed amount of money to Mr. Mohammadi who was sheltered at the time by Ms. Radnia. "In several trips abroad, Reza'i came in contact with counter-revolutionary elements who had helped a friend to obtain resident permit and after becoming a member of the unidentified organisation, he provided financial help and communications capabilities to the elements organising the recent disturbances under the direction of foreign groups" the television said.
But spokesman for a pro-reform students group cast doubt on the official insistence that exiled dissidents and foreign states were behind the unrest. "The root of the problem lay closer to home", said one member of the Office for Consolidating Unity (OCU), the students largest organisation that called for swift implementation of the reforms promised by President Mohammad Khatami as "the best way to prevent further turmoil and violence".
Following a meeting of representatives of all Iranian students who had flocked to Tehran Wednesday and Thursday, the OCU warned the authorities that if they fail to satisfy their demands, they may make public all the information they have at their hands concerning the pre-down savage attack on the student's dormitory on 9th July by Ansar Hezbollah thugs backed by the LEF and the Intelligence Ministry's special units as well as those responsible for the violent riots and anti-leader slogans during Tuesday 13th July.
Chief among demands by the students are the removal from office of the LEF Commander, Revolutionary Guard General Hedayatollah Lotfian and his public trial, the suspension of the ban imposed on the popular and influential daily "Salam", the release of all prisoners and the return of the students killed during the clashes to their families.
The Elected Council of Students said Thursday that arrests, beatings and forced confessions, continue unabated, despite official statements that most students had been freed.
"We have reports that people have been arrested merely for being students, and after hours of interrogation, along with beatings, they were forced to sign confessions with their eyes closed. Others have been freed in fields around Tehran, after agents had destroyed their identities", the council said in a statement.
It said seven of its members, and others from legal student groups, were missing and presumed held by security forces. They listed the men as Mehdi Fakhrzadeh, Ali Hossein Qazizadeh, Hassan Hazratzadeh, Rouzbeh Gorji-Bayani, Hossein Arqavani and Mehdi Mahmoudian.
The Intelligence Ministry said 750 people out of 1,400 who had been arrested during the 5 days of the students protest movement had been released."Is it acceptable that merely because you are working with an official student organisation you would be arrested illegally?" said the statement, which called on top government officials to intervene and halt the arrests
HERE IS THE FULL TEXT OF MR. HASSIBI'S LETTER TO MR. KOFI ANNAN.
The Honorable Kofi Annan VIA FAX (212) 963-4879
Secretary General, The United Nations
Re: Saving the lives of two innocents Iranian students
As you know, a few thousand Iranian students from several different Universities in Iran have recently been arrested for participating in peaceful pro-democracy and pro-freedom demonstrations. Of these many students, two young men in particular, Manouchehr Mohammadi and Gholamreza Mohajerinejad, have been singled out and accused of serious misconduct. On Iranian radio and television, official statements have been issued by governmental authorities that implicate these two gentlemen, by name, in acts against Iran with the help of financial aid from the enemies of Iran for the purpose of overthrowing the Islamic Government of Iran. Purportedly, these funds have been given to the accused through a bank account at First Union National Bank in Virginia, account number 1010012744000. These accusations, if true, could lead to the deaths of these men according to the laws of the Islamic government in Iran.
I, Mohammad Hassibi, the undersigned, have definitive evidence which will acquit these men of the above mentioned charge brought against them. The evidence is as follows:
Mr. Mohammadi and Mr. Mohajerinejad, after receiving invitations from universities in the United States, visited the United States in the fall of 1998. During their visit, they were overwhelmed with the support of Iranian patriots such as myself. The above mentioned bank account was opened in response to this support as these same patriots desired to contribute to the cause of Mr. Mohammadi and Mr. Mojaherinejad. From that time until now, via an executed power of attorney, I have been the only person with access to this account. I have supporting bank statements, which clearly show that the total contribution made to this account never exceeded $3,535. This sum consists of donations from Iranian Patriots, all of which were in small increments.
It is quite obvious that the sum of $3,535 is hardly enough money to overthrow a government and could not have come from any enemies of Iran. Moreover, these two men voted for the election of President Khatami and have outspokenly supported his policies of law and order both in Iran and during their visit in the United States.
The bank documents to which I have referred are readily available and can be immediately provided upon request. Furthermore, I am personally available to stand witness to these facts, which will prove the innocence of these men. I will appear in any court of law including Iranian courts, if needed, in order to exonerate these young men of the charge against them.
I respectfully ask that the Honorable Secretary General do anything in his power and the power of the United Nations to bring this information to the Iranian government in an effort to clear up any misunderstandings. The lives of these young men depend on it.
With highest respect and regard,
Sincerely,
Mohammad Hassibi
Tel (512) 346-5754 Fax (512) 346-1118
Cc:
*The Honorable Mary Robinson, The United Nations’ High Commissioner on Human Rights.
VIA FAX: 01141-22-9170123
* The Honorable Nelson Mandela. VIA FAX: 01127-21-461-4987
* The Honorable Vaclav Havel, President of Czech Republic. VIA FAX: 01142-02-24310851
* The Honorable Desmond Tutu. VIA FAX: 011-27-21-245-225
* The Honorable Maurice Danby Copithorne, Special Representative on Iran, The United Nations
Commission on Human Rights, Switzerland. VIA FAX: 01141-22-9170123