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Al-Ahram Weekly 11 - 17 May 2000 Issue No. 481 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 11 - 17 May 2000 Issue No. 481
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Books Features Interview Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Trials and tribulations
By Azadeh MoaveniWhile a verdict in the trial of 13 Jews accused of spying for Israel is at least three weeks away, the proceedings have confirmed some prejudices held by some Iranians as well as observers outside of Iran.
Skittish international Jewish groups are convinced that Iran's Shi'a clerics are bloodthirsty anti-Semites, locking up Jews for pleasure and political gain. The country's conservative judiciary now feels vindicated in its long-held belief that international criticism is governed by a double-standard, directed by Jewish lobbies, and unconcerned with Iran's sovereignty over its internal affairs.
The closed trial which began in Shiraz last week, puts not only 13 members of Iran's ancient Jewish minority on trial, but the country's relations with the world. If the accused are convicted and executed, the international furore around the case could turn into an international cold shoulder for moderate President Mohamed Khatami.
No evidence has been made public and the case against the accused remains vague. Also startling is the lack of consistency between the suspects' recent confessions and their defence lawyers' statements. Defence team spokesman Ismail Nasseri insists that his clients' actions do not constitute espionage. He has explained the laws regarding spying to his clients, highlighting the relevant complexities. And yet three of the 13 have confessed, boldly and repeatedly, to spying for the Mossad. "What more can we do?" Nasseri asked in frustration.
Israeli officials have accused Iran of extracting confessions under duress. However, according to Elahe Sharif pour-Hicks, a representative of the New York-based Human Rights Watch, who met briefly with Hamid Tefileen -- the first to confess -- the accused appeared to be healthy: "he showed no signs of having endured physical pressure." Meanwhile, the files of the 13 defendants will be reviewed consecutively by Judge Sadeq Nourani, who in accordance with the Iranian legal system is acting as both prosecutor and judge in the case. He is expected to deliver a single verdict in about three weeks time.
Some representatives of the Jewish community say it need not have come to this. When the 13 were first arrested, many expected that the matter would be sorted out swiftly. Iranian law is not vague on this issue: an individual is guilty of espionage only if he has transmitted confidential material that undermines national security.
Since the evidence was not made public, the charges seemed inconclusive for many Iranians. As the international outcry mounted, many assumed that the accused were innocent and that the charges were perhaps trumped up. However, as this view gained wider currency, the hard-liners toughened their stance. Would the regime's critics, the conservative press routinely demanded, behave so much more transparently and gingerly with possible traitors?
Although the eyes of the world are on the espionage trial, it is only the latest litmus test for Khatami in the establishment power struggle. Khatami is engaged in battle with hard-liners in courtrooms around Tehran: liberal newspapers, journalists, and politicians are fending off legal attacks by the conservatives, who are using the judiciary as their key weapon in fighting the reform movement.
Reformers are now nervously watching the Council of Guardians, a quasi-judicial body also dominated by hard-line clerics, fearing that it may use its broad supervisory powers to invalidate the reform bloc's majority in the 290-seat parliament which was affirmed in the second round of elections last week.
Although the first round in February looked favourable for a substantial reform majority, the Council of Guardians has already invalidated 12 reform victories, sparking street unrest in six provinces. Likewise, it is scrutinising the results in Tehran where reformers captured 29 of 30 seats.
One day after reformists swept the second round of parliamentary elections, winning about 75 per cent of contested seats, the Council of Guardians alleged that there had been significant fraud in the first round of voting in Tehran.
Conservatives won only 10 of the 66 contested seats, with reformists winning 46 and the rest going to independents.
The Islamic Iran Participation Front, led by the president's brother, Mohamed-Reza Khatami, said he expected the Council of Guardians to validate the Tehran results. In recent days, reformist pressure has increased on the council to abandon its re-count, now in a record third stage. A statement by the national election body virtually dared the council to go ahead, threatening to publish its own figures, which are assumed to contradict the council's.
Council of Guardians member Ayatollah Gholam-Reza Rezvani told the official state news agency that he does "not expect the results of the sixth majlis [parliament] to be nullified in Tehran." But reformists are not comforted. The council is said to be bitterly divided over how to move on Tehran -- three members are said to favour outright cancellation, while the remaining nine support ratification. Parliament could legally convene without representatives for Tehran and the reform movement's leading lights since only two-thirds of the assembly is required for the session to proceed as scheduled on 27 May. But as one pro-reform columnist recently wrote, "The entire dignity of the system rests on Tehran."
