years that the Kremlin has permitted the Soviet press to mention Trotsky in a positive way, This never happened while either.Stalin or Khrushchev ran _ Pings: we
THREE YEARS AT HARD LABOR FOR "INSULTING" SHAH
Two ‘member s of. ‘the Central Committee of the League of Iranian Socialists, Ahas Aghelisade and Manuutcher Safa, who were arrested last June, “have been condemned by a military court in Teheran to three _years at hard labor, They were convicted of the crime of "having insulted His Majesty the Shah of. Iran." Lege ; a, ‘The insult. to the royal ‘clothes horse was alleged to have. been committed in the wording of a leaflet distributed in Teheran commemorating the. popular uprising of the year before. The real reason.for
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the.arrest was to strike a blow at the socialist organization which has::been meeting with a favorable reception, particularly among students. The League of Iranian Socialists.is seeking to build a “national united front" to replace Mossadegh's National Front.
The trial itself was a travesty. According to Iranian law, a defendant and his legal counsel must be permitted to study the file of the prosecution at least ten days before the trial opens. In this instance, neither the defendants nor their court-appointed attorney were * shown anything until the trial actually started. When they protested, the court granted a short recess to permit them to. "read" the prosecutor's case.
The attorney appointed by the court followed the proceedings for only the first day. He was afraid of being jailed himself if he showed himself too zealous in defending his clients?
‘The defendants who were processed in this kangaroo trial join other: socialists in the jails of Iran. Among the leading socialists or nationalists in prison are Professor Basargan, Dr. Sahahi, Tale-: ghani and Fruhar. Dr. Mossadegh, the former prime minister and leader. of the National Front, who nationalized the.oil wells of the Anglo- Iranian O11 Company. and was then. overthrown: by a combination. of British-American imperialism and native reaction, has been under house arrest for many years, Iranian socialists claim that the.Shah's secret political police have blocked him from coming out in favor of the "national: united front" which they advocate, =.
For eleven’ years terror: has replaced democratic liberties in Iran, The influence of foréign capital has increased tremendously - a8 has the strength of the indigenous capitalists. The Iranian bourgeoisie can consolidate their positions only if they act as compradores, or go-betweens, for they are in continual need of credit and subsidies from foreign capitalism. :
The Shah's “agrarian reform" turned out to be a complete failure, Prices have been rising rapidly along with inflation. Unempldyment, a traditional problem in a country where the average peasant finds only ninety days' work a year on his tiny plot, is spreading more and more,
Iran is close to a prerevolutionary situation, Up to now, however, the government-sponsored terror has succeeded in preventing formation of a genuinely revolutionary leadership. The workers and peasants also lack militant mass organizations. — mes The Iranian: Communist party (the Tudeh party) is weak and ‘aiscredited, The kowtowing of the’ Kremlin to the Shah’and his family © and its role in helping to deceive the people about his "progressive-~ ness"--has embittered the more conscious vanguard’in ‘towns and country~ side atike,.. The National Front ‘has disintegrated. Under -these condi- - tions, ::the ;Iranian Socialists have. calied::for a united: front of all
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the .-oppressed and exploited who want to free their country from the Shah, the domination of foreign capital, and the direct. and indinest tools of: these arch enemies .of the. Iranian people. . 7 oo “They do. not conceive ‘the proposed "national united front" in an opportunist manner, subordinating the exploited masses to the "national" bourgeoisie. They clearly state that the goal of their ” organization is to steer the mass struggle toward socialist revolution.:In the program which they project for-the "national united front," they propose such slogans.as nationalization of the ‘land and national ‘pesources, including the water. supply, self-government of the. peasants: :on nationalized farms, consolidation of the nationalized ot1 industry, nationalization of..all foreign trade firms, a state monopoly of foreign trade, and nationalized industrial firms...
WILSONTS