Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
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Revue <strong>de</strong> Presse-Press Revie7..V-BerhevokaÇapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro <strong>de</strong> la Prensa-Baszn Öz<strong>et</strong>i<br />
Dissi<strong>de</strong>nts' Harsh Sentences Darken<br />
- - -- -- - --- -----.--- - ~ - --- - - ~---- ------ - -----<br />
the Moodlnsi<strong>de</strong> and Out of Iran<br />
By Geneive Abdo<br />
Special to The International Herald Tribune.<br />
TEHRAN ~ The <strong>de</strong>cision by han 's judiciary'<br />
to impose severe sentences on pro-reform intellectuals,<br />
journalists and activists who participated<br />
in a seminar last year in Germany has<br />
revealed a country sinking <strong>de</strong>eper into repression<br />
while. trying to maintain a faca<strong>de</strong>. of openness<br />
with the West<br />
The verdicts han<strong>de</strong>d down Saturday by a Rev-<br />
.olutionary Court have <strong>de</strong>vastated many Iranians<br />
,who say the sentences are reminiscent of the<br />
.darkest days after the 1979 Revolution, and have<br />
.also sparked con<strong>de</strong>mnation among leading reformi.st<br />
politicians against the conservative-dominatèd<br />
judiciary.<br />
Chancellor Gerhard Schroe<strong>de</strong>r of Germany<br />
announced Sunday that he was <strong>de</strong>laying a trip to<br />
.Iran scheduled for the spring. Iran's ambassador<br />
to Berlin was summoned to the Foreign Ministry<br />
:to explainthe court rulings.<br />
The conference that caused the court case was<br />
. held ~.t\pril in Berlin to discuss reforms in Iran.<br />
It was hosted by the Heinrich BoeIl Foundation,<br />
in conjunctionwith the German Greens party. '..<br />
. .The Iranian presi<strong>de</strong>nt, Mohammed Kha~,<br />
has remained virtually 'silent about the verdicts<br />
against some of his key allies. His brother, Mohammed<br />
Reza Khatami, told an Iranian .<br />
newspaper the sentences were <strong>de</strong>ci<strong>de</strong>d upon<br />
"with factional confrontation in mind."<br />
But he also <strong>de</strong>plored Mr. Schroe<strong>de</strong>r's <strong>de</strong>cision<br />
if.it was "meant to interfere in our<br />
judiciary andinternal affairs." .<br />
.Nearly four years. after ~ohaIllI1?-ed<br />
Khatarni became preSi<strong>de</strong>nt, his loyalIsts<br />
appear no closer to un<strong>de</strong>rstan~ing th~ effect that<br />
internal crises have upon relations With Western<br />
.countries with which Tehran is trying to cultivate<br />
: ties. Conservatives and reformers harbor resentments<br />
toward Western governments, whom they<br />
blame for centuries of interference in Irail's affairs..'<br />
.<br />
The result is an internal power struggle, wh~ch .<br />
reformists seemed poised to lose, and a foreign .<br />
policy based more on ~ymbolic trips by ~r.<br />
.Khatami to forei~~- capitals th~ _a change 1ß<br />
polici~s.that Western ~ovenui1enf8:W6uldiike to<br />
se~ in Iran, analysts said. "
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