Lawyer in Iran serial murder trial free on bail

Lawyer in Iran serial murder trial free on bail
REUTERS

TEHRAN, JAN 13: An Iranian court has freed on bail a lawyer for families of victims of "serial murders" who was jailed a month ago on grounds of suggesting that the deaths were part of a secret police campaign to silence dissident opposition.

The case of the murders has highlighted the struggle between reformers grouped around President Mohammad Khatami who has vowed to ensure the rule of law and hardliners who dominate the security apparatus and the courts.

Hambastegi newspaper said on Saturday that Naser Zarafshan had been freed after posting 400 million Rials ($50,000) bail.

In all, 18 intelligence ministry agents are charged with killing four opposition intellectuals in 1998. Almost all the accused have admitted the charges in the ongoing trial.

But Zarafshan and other reformist activists say dozens more may have been murdered over a period of 10 years by state-sponsored death squads. Responsibility, they say, goes much higher than those agents currently on trial.

Judiciary Chief Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi moved to silence such charges by banning "unauthorised revelations" in the case.

Zarafshan was jailed for transgressing this decree. He and other lawyers for the victim's families have boycotted the trial in protest at the accused being tried for only four murders and what they say is removal of evidence.

Two pro-reform journalists and a former interior Minister are currently in jail after making similar allegations.

MPs last week heard a parliamentary commission report on the murders in a closed session. One MP said afterwards that their conclusions differed sharply from those being put forward by prosecutors in the closed door trial.

But, he said, the MPs' report was incomplete as many of the lines of investigation had been blocked by the judiciary.

When the case first came to light it was hailed as a victory for moderate Khatami and his 1997 election promise to guarantee the rule of law. But as the case progresses many in his camp allege a cover-up is in progress.

Khatami's other pledge--to increase freedom of speech--also looks to be in tatters with judiciary bans on more than 30 newspapers and journals after supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei pronounced them "bases of the enemy".

During his term of office, many of Khatami's reforms have been vetoed by the Guardian Council, a body appointed by Khamenei to ensure legislation conforms to Islamic law.

Now with presidential polls in June, the popular Khatami is being coy over whether he will stand for re-election.

Some analysts believe he is trying to extract concessions from the conservative state hierarchy to ease the hamstrings on his government. His withdrawal from the race would plunge all sides, conservatives and reformers, into turmoil.