Former Deputy Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic, Abbas Amir Entezam, has written to friends in the United States, warning of threats he has received of his possible arrest and execution on false charges. Fearing for his safety, Mr. Entezam specifically requested that his letter be made public.
Arrested in December 19, 1979 and released only two months ago from Evin prison in Tehran, Amir Entezam was the Islamic Republic's longest-held political prisoner. He was originally detained on trumped up charges of contacts with a foreign power (in fact, he had been delegated by the Revolutionary government to negotiate with the United States following the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran in November 1979). He was subsequently tried in camera without a lawyer and convicted to life imprisonment for espionage. For fifteen years, Amir Entezam had been demanding a public retrial and was finally released from Evin prison in January 1996 and placed under house arrest.
In his letter, Entezam said he had been informed recently that "a certain Hojjatolislam Rahbarpour, who heads the Revolutionary Courts, has threatened in an interview to sentence me to death if a re-trial were to take place."
The Foundation for Democracy in Iran has written to the leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamene'i, President Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, the Ministry of Justice, and has sent an inquiry to Iran's Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, to express alarm at this latest complaint by Amir Entezam and to remind them of our support for the fundamental right of all Iranian citizens to a fair trial.
The full text of Mr. Amir Entezam's letter follows:
To: Mr. Asodollah Morovati, President of Radio Sedaye Iran, Los Angeles, CA
With greetings and wishing you the best of success, I have heard that due to your relentless efforts, as well as your colleagues' endeavors, the 24 hours Iranian radio in Los Angeles is expressing the various views and opinions of our fellow Iranians.
You might be aware that the undersigned Abbas Amir Entezam has been for the past 16 years prisoner of the ominous religious totalitarian regime prevailing in our country, and on false and preposterous accusations I was tried in a court of law without a defense lawyer or a jury, by a so-called "judge," Ayatollah Mohammad Mohamadi Gilani, who had no legal or judicial education. Without recourse to a final defense, I was condemned to life imprisonment.
Although I have on numerous occasions denounced how this scandalous parody of justice took place, and requested another trial, it has been to no avail. This ominous regime will not consider my complaint and. Recently I have been informed that due to the world-wide wave of opposition to my imprisonment, a certain Hojjatolislam Rahbarpour, who is at the head of the Revolutionary Courts, has in an interview threatened to sentence me to death if a re-trial were to take place.
As a patriotic Iranian in the hands of this murderous irreligious regime, I am sending you this letter which I would like for you to distribute to radio, television, and other mass media in the United States, as well as in Europe and other countries, so that my fellow countrymen, together with all freedom lovers around the world, can become aware of such unfortunate cases.
Finally, should you find in these documents such matters that can be upheld for my defense, please do not hesitate to provide me help and 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 available free-of-charge via the Internet at http://www.iran.org/.