IRANIAN POLITICAL PRISONER
Conceding to widespread international protests, the shah of: Iran has commuted the death sentence passed against Mohammad Bod jnourdi , the main defendant in a secret trial involving fiftyfive political oppositionists who were accused of plotting an armed rebellion to overthrow the shah's regime. Fifty-four of the defendants were found guilty by: the military court.
Two death sentences in another ‘trial still appear to stand, however. The arrest of Ali Khavari: and. Parviz Hekmatdjou, their. trial (behind closed doors), and the verdict of a death Sentence were..all announced the same day in the Teheran press. All that is known about the case is that they were accused of "espionage," a charge commonly levelled against alleged members of the Tudeh party.
The French philosopher and playwright Jean-Paul’ ‘Sartre issued the following statement which was published : in the May 145 issue:of the Paris daily Le Monde:
"The young Iranian patriot Mr. K. Bodjnourdi has just been granted his life. This act, of immense gratification to us, must™ not. cause us to forget that the situation of the political’ prisoners in Iran remains as tragic as ever. : "The lives of two other Iranians, Hekmatdjou and Kaveri, ‘accused of belonging to the Tudeh party and of espionage, are in _ danger. The Committee to Defend the Iranian Political Prisoners asks all those in France who believe in democracy to appeal to- ‘the Iranian authorities in order to save these two human lives.