COURT TURNS DOWN APPEALS OF HEKMATDJOU AND KHARVI
As was expected, the second military appeals court in Teheran handed down a decision June 21 upholding the death sentences passed by a lower military court against Parviz Hekmatdjou and Ali Kharvi.
The defendants were accused of belonging to the Tudeh [Communist] party, of violating the security of the state and "espionage." The latter charge was based on the prosecution's interpretation of a report sent by Hekmatdjou to Tudeh party leaders in exile in East ‘Germany.
Hekmatd jou was also accused of undermining army morale. For this, che was given a second death sentence.
The two defendants immediately asked. that they be granted | the right to appeal their cases to a higher court. This requires approval from the shah.
Af. the shah grants permission and the higher court should confirm the verdicts of the lower tribunals, -the only legal recourse left open would be an appeal to the shah for clemency; i.e., the reduction of the death penalties to life imprisonment.
Jules Chomé, head of the Belgian section of the International Association of Democratic Jurists and representative of the Belgian League for the Rights of Man, who was admitted to the court sessions as an observer, sent a personal appeal to the shah to intervene positively in the case.
Protests, demanding the immediate release of the political prisoners in Iran, should be addressed tothe shah in Teheran. Protests should also be addressed to ambassadors and consuls oF the shah in other countries.
AFL-CIO ENDS BOYCOTT OF ILO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations [AFL-CIO] decided June 22 to end a‘three-week