DATE=10/30/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=IRAN / TRIAL (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-255642
BYLINE=RICHARD ENGEL
DATELINE=CAIRO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The trial of one of Iran's leading reformers
opened Saturday in Tehran. Richard Engel reports from
our Middle East bureau in Cairo that Iran's former
interior minister, Abdullah Nouri, is accused of using
his newspaper to promote ties with Iran's archenemy,
the United States.
TEXT: The prosecutor for the special court trying Mr.
Nouri is accusing the former cabinet minister and
newspaper manager of trying to undermine the Iranian
revolution.
The charges were filed in response to pro-reform
articles published in Khordad, a newspaper Mr. Nouri
managed last year after Iran's conservative parliament
forced him to resign as interior minister.
The 44-page indictment accuses Mr. Nouri of using
Khordad to slander the Iranian government, publish
irreligious articles and distort the ideals of the
Islamic republic as laid out by the late Ayatollah
Khomeini.
The prosecutor told a crowded courtroom that Mr. Nouri
hoped to cause public dissent for personal gain.
Mr. Nouri is a strong supporter of Iran's moderate
president, Mohammed Khatami, and analysts say his
trial is part of an ongoing struggle between
reformists and hard-liners in Iran for control over
the nation.
Mr. Nouri says the charges against him are an attempt
by hard-liners to silence moderate voices.
A conviction would disqualify Mr. Nouri from taking
part in parliamentary elections in February. Many
reformists had hoped to make him their choice for
parliamentary speaker.
A recent report by the group, Human Rights Watch, says
press freedom and government attempts to control the
press have become key issues in the struggle for power
between reformists and hard-liners.
Human Rights Watch also condemns Iran for limiting
freedom of expression by using special tribunals
instead of regular courts to try writers and
journalists.
Two other trials in Iran involve confrontations
between supporters and opponents of President Khatami.
Four university students are on trial for producing a
satirical play that conservatives found insulting to
Islam. And Tehran's former reformist mayor,
Gholamhossein Karbachi, is appealing a conviction on
corruption charges. (signed)
NEB/RHE/DW/JP
30-Oct-1999 09:30 AM EDT (30-Oct-1999 1330 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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