Former Deputy Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic, Abbas AmirEntezam, has written to friends in the United States, warning ofthreats he has received of his possible arrest and execution on falsecharges. Fearing for his safety, Mr. Entezam specifically requestedthat his letter be made public.
Arrested in December 19, 1979 and released only two months agofrom Evin prison in Tehran, Amir Entezam was the Islamic Republic'slongest-held political prisoner. He was originally detained ontrumped up charges of contacts with a foreign power (in fact, he hadbeen delegated by the Revolutionary government to negotiate with theUnited States following the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran inNovember 1979). He was subsequently tried in camera without a lawyerand convicted to life imprisonment for espionage. For fifteen years,Amir Entezam had been demanding a public retrial and was finallyreleased from Evin prison in January 1996 and placed under housearrest.
In his letter, Entezam said he had been informed recently that "acertain Hojjatolislam Rahbarpour, who heads the Revolutionary Courts,has threatened in an interview to sentence me to death if a re-trialwere to take place."
The Foundation for Democracy in Iran has written to the leader ofthe Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamene'i, President AliAkbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, the Ministry of Justice, and has sent aninquiry to Iran's Permanent Mission to the United Nations in NewYork, to express alarm at this latest complaint by Amir Entezam andto remind them of our support for the fundamental right of allIranian citizens to a fair trial.
The full text of Mr. Amir Entezam's letter follows:
To: Mr. Asodollah Morovati, President of Radio Sedaye Iran, LosAngeles, CA
With greetings and wishing you the best of success, I have heardthat due to your relentless efforts, as well as your colleagues'endeavors, the 24 hours Iranian radio in Los Angeles is expressingthe various views and opinions of our fellow Iranians.
You might be aware that the undersigned Abbas Amir Entezam hasbeen for the past 16 years prisoner of the ominous religioustotalitarian regime prevailing in our country, and on false andpreposterous accusations I was tried in a court of law without adefense lawyer or a jury, by a so-called "judge," Ayatollah MohammadMohamadi Gilani, who had no legal or judicial education. Withoutrecourse to a final defense, I was condemned to lifeimprisonment.
Although I have on numerous occasions denounced how thisscandalous parody of justice took place, and requested another trial,it has been to no avail. This ominous regime will not consider mycomplaint and. Recently I have been informed that due to theworld-wide wave of opposition to my imprisonment, a certainHojjatolislam Rahbarpour, who is at the head of the RevolutionaryCourts, has in an interview threatened to sentence me to death if are-trial were to take place.
As a patriotic Iranian in the hands of this murderous irreligiousregime, I am sending you this letter which I would like for you todistribute to radio, television, and other mass media in the UnitedStates, as well as in Europe and other countries, so that my fellowcountrymen, together with all freedom lovers around the world, canbecome aware of such unfortunate cases.
Finally, should you find in these documents such matters that canbe upheld for my defense, please do not hesitate to provide me helpand assistance.
Accept my many thanks for all your efforts and your colleagues'endeavors, in the name of truth and humanity,
Respectfully,
Abbas Amir Entezam.
The Foundation for Democracy in Iran is a private,non-profit corporation registered in the State of Maryland.Contact: Kenneth R. Timmerman, Executive Director (exec@iran.org).FDI materials, including the FDI Newswire, are availablefree-of-charge via the Internet at http://www.iran.org/.