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February 12, 2001
On Saturday Jan. 27, 2001, the military court of the Islamic Republic of Iran announced sentences for 18 government
employees accused of the “Chain Murders” of the opponents of the regime, committed
in late 1998. The military court handed down death sentences for three agents,
life sentences for five, jail sentences of up to 10 years for seven, and
three were acquitted.
Iran National Front (in USA) rejects the official explanation that “rogue agents were responsible”, and that the murders
are limited to only four victims. Furthermore, we categorically criticize
the judicial procedures of this case as fallow:
1- The trial was held behind closed doors in order to protect those who are the clerical leaders of the Islamic government. Amongrevealed names were Ali Khamenihe, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Ghorban-AliDorri-Najafabadi, Ali Fallahian, Mohseni Ejaee, Rohollah Hossenian, MesbahYazdi, Abolghassem Khazali, Ahmad Jenati, and Razeny.
Khamenihe as a Emam (supreme leader) had to approve the ordering by
clerical officials. Rafsanjani is currently the Chair of & quot; Shora Maslahat Nezam
& quot; [The Council for the Expediency of the System] and is former President of
the Islamic regime, and is former Speaker of Islamic Majles. Ghorban-Ali Dorri-Najafabadiis the former Minister of Intelligence, who has ordered the killings of
Iranian dissidents. Ali Fallahian is the former Minister of Intelligence. The Mykonostrial in Germany investigating the murders of four Iranian dissidents
in Berlin issued an international arrest warrant for Fallahian for his role
in those murders. Mohseni Ejaee is the Judiciary's Representative in the
Intelligence Ministry. Rohollah Hossainian held the same position beforeEjaee. Mesbah Yazdi is the former Chief Justice. Abolghasem Khazali, AhmadJanaty and Razeny are members of the Islamic Guardian Counsel. Some of
the above officials have issued " fatwas & quot; (religious decrees)
justifying the murder of those who advocate separation of religion and politics.
2- The trail focused only on the murders of two secular political activists (Parvaneh Eskandari Forouhar and Daryoush Forouhar, the leaders of
the secular Iran Nation party) and two writers (Mohammad Mokhtari and
Mohammad-Jafar Poyandeh) that were carried out in October, November and December 1998.
The killing of political activists, in particular those who advocate secular
form of government had been carried out by government agents long before 1998. Theactivities of death squads organized by different agencies of the regime
such as the Ministry of Intelligence, the Intelligence Bureau of Sepah
Pasdaran (Military intelligence), as well as semi-official forces such as Ansar-e
Hezbollah, goes long before 1998.
3- The highest official among the 18 on trial was Mostafa Kazemi, who was a department director at the Ministry of Intelligence. He
and one other were given life sentences for ordering the killings.
Kazemireveal ed one crucial detail during the trail; in his last defense,
Kazemiacc used his direct superior, Minister of Intelligence, Ghorban-AliDorri-Najafabadi of ordering the murders. To the surprise of many, the judgesaid the minister had been cleared during earlier investigations.
Dorri-Najafabadi was appointed by Mohammad Khatami, the pro-reform president.
Dorri-Najafabadi was dismissed in early 1999; during his tenure the death squads within
the Ministry of Intelligence were active.
The Iran National Front (USA branches) has previously stated that the conservative-controlled judiciary system of the
Islamic regime in Iran is nothing but a repressive tool in the hands of the
ruling fundamentalist clerics. We demand that the fundamentalist regime in Iran
to respect the basic human rights of the Iranian people and to observe the
international standards of due process in judicial proceedings. Once
again, we ask democratic governments and non- governmental organizations around
the world (such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch Groups),
and international organizations (such as the United Nations) to hold officials
of the Islamic regime in Iran accountable.
Iran National Front (INF), USA :
INF, New York
INF, Washington, DC
INF, Chicago
INF, Southern California
INF, Northern California, WWW.jebhemelli.net
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