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Iranian Court Told Berlin Seminar Aimed At Overthrowing Regime
TEHRAN (AFP) - Iranian reformists on trial for attending a controversial conference in Berlin faced the prospect of heavier punishment Sunday after the prosecution claimed the aim of the seminar was to overthrow Iran's Islamic regime.
Revolutionary court prosecutor Abdollah Sharifi revealed the accusation for the first time when he read the charge sheet for one of the interpreters at the April conference, Khalil Rostam-Khani.
The gathering, attended by a number of close allies of Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, but also members of Iran's exiled People's Mujahadeen, infuriated the conservatives dominating the country's judiciary, who deemed it un-Islamic.
Sharifi alleged Sunday the conference on the future of Iran, organized by Germany's Heinrich Boell foundation, was "hostile propaganda", endangered national security and was aimed at overthrowing the regime.
Rostam-Khani, 48, a former communist militant, has already been accused of "moharebeh", or "waging war against God", a charge that could carry the death sentence.
The charge sheet read Sunday specified "activities and efforts benefiting counter-revolutionary groups, propaganda and distributing leaflets inside Iran", as well as encouraging attendance at the Berlin seminar.
Rostam-Khani denied all the accusations against him, and said he had stayed out of politics since he was released in 1990 after a jail term imposed for his activities as a communist.
He said the leaflets found at his home belonged to his wife Roshanak Daryush, who lives in Germany and had been asked to return to Iran.
Judge Hassan Ahmadi-Moghadessi told him the charge would be dropped if his wife testified before the court.
"The charge against you is extremely heavy, and it is in your interest to tell your wife to come back," the prosecutor added.
Rostam-Khani is also accused of writing analyses and commentaries on the situation in Iran for reformist newspapers, 15 of which have been banned by the conservative courts since reformists took control of parliament in elections in February.
Defense lawyer Abdolkarim Hajjian stressed that Rostam-Khani was only the interpreter for Thomas Hartman, one of the main organizers of the conference, who has also been charged in his absence.
Another interpreter, Said Sadr, an employee of the German embassy in Tehran, is similarly accused of "moharebeh".
Other participants at the conference hauled before the courts on their return include Member of Parliament Jamileh Kadivar, wife of Culture Minister Ataollah Mojerani, a bane of the conservatives.
Investigative journalist Akbar Ganji, who has linked conservative clerics and former president Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani to the murder of dissidents, has alleged he was tortured in prison while awaiting trial.
Hassan Yussefi Eshkevari, who also spoke in Berlin, has already been tried by the Special Court for Clergy and also faces a death sentence. He has been accused of apostasy, or rejecting Islam, for questioning mandatory head coverings for women.
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