In late January, after a hundred days of silent in the press, the regime broadcasted the news about INP members arrest along with great propaganda. My picture was printed on the first page of Ettela’at and Keyhan newspapers (Documents no.1 & 2)
By the propaganda in the press, our pals found out the trials were so near. So, they gathered together and consulted each other about their defense in the court. It became almost clear for each of us how begin, rise and finish our defense. All of us agreed that each person should only defend himself and do not accept the deeds by others. So, the defense statements were supposed to be in written form.[1]
We all wrote our defense statements; each one was sharper than the other one. Since we were sure that we would not be executed, did not consider anything in our defense statements when explaining our ideas. It was believed that if we compromise and accept defeat, our defeat was the defeat of Muslims and betray to Islam. So, the pals considered it a must for themselves to defense seriously from their ideals to exemplify themselves for the other ones who may join the fight against the regime.
At the court it was clarified that the regime and its agents had thought we would not have anything to say; so, they conducted the trail with the presence of a group of reporters. After some minutes they found what a big mistake they have done and impeded the reporters to enter the court and only few censored new items were published in the press.
On February 6th 1966, the first session of the trial for 55 members of INP[2] was held in the Officers Club Amphitheatre at Jamshidiyeh Garrison. Brigadier General Taj-ud-dini was the judge and Colonel Atefi was the prosecuting attorney. They entered us to the room in a line. After some introductory affairs they read our accusations. Most of them were conducting attempts against the country’s security. The judge indicted death penalty for the eight members of central committee and for the rest three to ten years of imprisonment. We asked the central cadre to defend legally. Then the accused individuals read their defense statement. All of them would begin with revolutionary and ideological sentences and read with heroic tone. They were often documented on Koranic verses and Shia Imams’ speeches and illegitimacy of the court before everything.
When the regime faced the hard positions taken by INP members, during the later days some tried to hoax them to confess the crimes in order to be forgiven or receive lesser punishments; but the cleverness of the pals foiled their hoaxes.
Those heroic and enthusiastic scenes made by reading revolutionary defense statements are indescribable. Whatever that has been written or said about them is much smaller than what really happened. I narrate small parts of these unrepeatable beautiful scenes for you here.
The defense statement of Mr. Mohammad Javad Hojjati Kermani was among the hardest and revealing statements there. His defense included several pages filled with Koranic verses, Shia Imams’ speeches, epic poems and revolutionary sentences. When he read his statement, threat conquered the court agents. The judge tried to interrupt him several times. However, he continued bravely to the end. The judge said angrily when he was finished: “I would have ordered this low rank clergy to be shot dead by death squad if I had the orders!”
The great and beautiful defense statement of Seyyed Keyvan Mahshid[3] was his silence. As a protest to the illegitimacy of the court he did not say anything and remained silent. His silence was much louder and more meaningful than many other shouts and voices. As a result, his punishment became much heavier than what he really would be considered for his presence and activity in INP.
Mr. Abol-Hassan Felahati had written a ten paged defense statement. He was reading it enthusiastically that suddenly we felt the subject had changed. The judge asked: “Hey guy! Have not you written it by yourself?!” Then he answered by a north Iranian accent: “Yes I do. But I have lost the line!” The room exploded by laugh and the court lost its formal condition and then the judge ordered: “Silent!”
Mohammad Baqer Abbassi[4] had gone to the court appointed attorney and had paid him some money to defend him better. That attorney defended him this way and said: “This teenager is only 13 or 14 years old (!); he is misled and hoaxed.” It is pity if such teenager is being kept in prison. We should not have arrested him at all. They had to free him where being arrested.” The attorney was named Soltani. He was talking so enthusiastic that suddenly his false teeth jumped out. The judge, hearing his sentences about Abbassi thought that he was really a small teenage boy. He asked him to stand. When sitting it was not clear how tall he was. He gradually stood up. The judge surprisingly said: “You call this man a school teenager and should not have been brought to the court?!”
Mr. Mohammad Baqer Senoubari[5], the first arrested INP member, was 18 at that time. He loudly defended himself and said: “I do not accept the court appointed attorney. He says what is not ours at all. He says his own words. Our word is Islam… you are sitting in a place which not for you and you are illegitimate. You are not Islamic but far from it…”
With his words the court was full of excitement and emotion and proud.
Mr. Javad Mansouri[6] also said in his defense statement: “We have risen for God and sure that he would help us. ‘O ye who believe! if ye help Allah, he will help you and will make your foothold firm’ (Koran, Chapter 47, Verse 7)”
I also announced the court is illegitimate and I do not ratify it. So, I became silent and did not answer any question to reject or affirm my deed.
What is remembering to me is the shout of Salutes to Prophet Mohammad after defense statement that was read. The first trial lasted more than twenty days and at last they issued the following verdicts:
The party leader, death penalty; Hassan Hamed Azizi & Seyyed Mohammad Seyyed Mahmoodi, life prison; five other members of central cadre, 15 years in prison; three people, eight years in prison; four people, five years in prison; seven people, four years in prison; three people, three years and half in prison; and 29 other members and me were sentenced to three years in prison. We all objected the verdicts instantly.
After our objection the revision court was held in April 1966 and the judge was General Marvasti and the prosecuting attorney was Colonel Atefi. The regime had imagined that by the heavy verdicts in the first trail, the accused people would be warned and, in the revision, court would be softer; however, the happenings in this court showed the have had a wrong imagination. The second court just like the first one was a place for defending Islam and Muslims’ prestige. The pals with the experience of the previous court played their role with double energy and bravely and enthusiastically defended themselves and their ideals with a revolutionary and sharp but rational tongue.
Mr. Mohammad Javad Hojjati Kermani played a brave role in this court once again by his hard and anti-oppression defense and disappointed the court and the judge.
I was silent the previous court. But this time wrote a statement and read it in the court. I began my statement with the last three pieces of three verses in Chapter V of Koran: “I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan … whoso judgeth not by that which Allah hath revealed: such are disbelievers (Chapter V, Verse 44) … whoso judgeth not by that which Allah hath revealed: such are wrong-doers (Chapter V, Verse 45) … whoso judgeth not by that which Allah hath revealed: such are evil-livers (Chapter V, Verse 47).” Then I said: “I totally do not ratify you and do not accept the legitimacy of the judge. We are Muslims and believers and with the conditions in this court, you are not supposed to trial us…”
The emotions of the revolutionary fighters in this court are indescribable. The judge and his colleagues made the verdicts heavier instead of revising because of the anger they found after hearing the INP members defending statements. Mine rose to four years in prison; we named this court “escalating” instead of “revision” because of the final verdicts.
A scene I would never forget in this court was the day that General Marvasti was conducting the trail and the late Mr. Nasser Naraghi was drawing his cartoon. This cartoon would show him while having grabbed the INP leader in his bloody hand. A guard noticed the matter and showed what Nasser was doing. This made the audience laugh and angering Marvasti.
The revision court finished its job in three days and announced the final verdict of each of pals. When all the verdicts were read, we all together stood by the leadership of Mohammad Javad Hojjati Kermani and shouted: “Allah is our master and not yours!”[7]
[1] Few days before the court Mr. Ahmad gives a note to Mr. Mohammad Baqer Senoubari that shows his position and insight toward the court and the so-called trail, prison and the path behind. (Document 3)
[2] The 55 people were: 1- Seyyed Mohammad Kazem Mousavi Bojnourdi 2- Hassan Hamed Azizi 3- Seyyed Mohammad Seyyed Mahmoodi Qumi 4- Mohammad Piran 5- Abbas Ali Mazaheri 6-Abulqassem Sarhaddi Zadeh 7- Seyyed Ali Noor Sadeghi 8- Seyyed Mohammad Mir Mohammad Sadeghi 9- Mohammad Baqer Abbassi 10- Nasser Naraqi 11- Mohammad Ali Jamalian 12- Javad Mansouri 13- Mohammad Javad Hojjati Kermani 14- Ahmad 15- Hamid Khan Mohammad 16- Ahmad Shirini 17- Ahmad Mansouri 18- Mohammad Baqer Senoubari 19- Abbas Douzdouzani 20- Seyyed Fakhr-ed-din Pishva’I 21- Morteza Haji 22- Seyyed Asghar Ghoreyshi 23- Hussein Rvan Pak 24- Seyyed Jamal Nikou Qadam 25- Abbas Sa’idi 26- Mohammad Taqi Shalchi 27- Seyyed Hadi Shams Ha’eri 28- Akbar Ourami 29- Ahmad Taqavi 30- Abbas Aghazamani 31- Mohammad Sadegh Abbassi 32- Mohammad Kazem Seyfian 33- Hassan Tabtab’i 34- Mosen Haji Mahdi 35- Mohammad Hassan Ebn-ul- Reza 36- Abulhassan Falahati 37- Ahmad Rouhi 38- Ali Akbar Rostami 39- Mohammad Sadegh Ra’is Dana’i 40- Keyvan Mahshid 41- Ali Reza Sepasi Ashtiani 42- Mohsen Rahimpour 43- Yousef Rashidi 44- Amir Sarhaddi Zadeh 45- Hussein Sarhaddi Zadeh 46- Ramezan Soltani 47- Reza Abul-hassan Akhavan 48- Reza Ezhe’iyan 49- Ali Akbar Salahmand 50- Davoud Reza’i 51- Ehsanullah Mahboub 52- Mohammad Hussein Shahri 53 Ahmad Agha Zamani 54- Mohammad Baba’i 55- Ali Asghar Rfi’i Ahle Kasb (Documents: 1,2,4)
[3] Seyyed Keyvan Mahshid, son of Seyyed Esma’il was born in 1943 in Tehran. He was an active believer book-reader and worshiper young man. He would fast most of days in the months of Rajab & Sha’ban. At the time of arrest he was a science student and was sentence to 10 years in prison in the revision court. He eagerly liked to learn English and would study book inside the prison all the time here and there. Later he cut his relation with Islam and Muslims and did not care about Islamic traditions and became Marxist. After the Islamic Revolution, he was arrested, imprisoned and executed because of his activities in secret cadres of Tudeh Party.
[4] Mohammad Baqer Abbassi, son of Hussein Ali was born in Qum in 1946. At the time of his arrest he was a high school student. He is one of the assassinators of Brigadier General Taheri in August 1972. He was executed in the next January along with Mohammad Mofidi for this assassination.
[5] Mohammad Baqer Senoubari was born in a religious family in 1947 in Tehran. The religious context in the family led him to political Islamic circles. His life can be divided in two sections: gnostic and political. In his gnostic life, he educated in classes of knowledgeable Shia gnostic masters such as his father Mirza Abulfazl Senoubari, the late Mr. Sheik Abbass Ostad Vali, Haj Sheikh Mohammad Sharif Razi, and the late Sheik Abd-ulkarim Hamed Qazvini who all four were among the students of the grand master Sheik Rajab Ali Nekougouyan (Khayyat). His political life began by entering to Hojjatiyyeh Society for a short time and getting acquainted with some friends. After these friendships, he was invited to join INP. In October 1965 he was unexpectedly arrested by the police in Rey, southern Tehran. He was in prison for three years.
After being freed he continued his fight till the Islamic Revolution victory. Then he concentrated on Gnostic life and did not accept governmental posts and continued his previous job as saddler.
[6] Javad Mansouri, son of Mashallah, was born in 1945 in Kashan in a religious family. His family immigrated to Tehran in his childhood. He passed his elementary education in Anoushiravan Elementary School. Then he started working in bazaar and at nights continued Islamic elementary education at Mohammadi Mosque. After one year interruption he went to Alavi high school. Beside education he began activity in Students Islamic Society and shortly after joined Hojjatiyyeh Society. There he was acquainted with Mr. Mir Mohammad Sadeghi and then joined INP. Before finishing his studies he was arrested along with his brother Ahmad and other INP members in 1965 and was sentenced to 6 years in prison. He was freed in 1968 because of commutation in his verdict. He used this period for his education and strengthening his personality and along his brother they could achieve their high school diploma. In 1969 Mansouri entered the central cadre of Hezbollah Group. However, when this group joined with MKO in 1971, he came out of it. He could pass SAVAK limitations to enter Tehran University and achieve his BS in economics. He was arrested once again in early 1972 by SAVAK and was heavily tortured, but did not break. During these years in prison he could oppose the Marxists as a theoretician. He was assassinated in prison in 1974 by an individual named Davoud Mahboub by being hit in head and back with a dumbbell. He was saved from this attempt. The reason behind this matter is not clear. But is known that Mahboub was mentally abnormal because of heavy tortures of SAVAK. Mansouri was exiled to different places such as Kermanshah and Mashhad and finally was freed in December 1978 from Mashhad prison.
After the Islamic Revolution he accepted different posts such as: the first Revolutionary Guards Corps, Cultural Deputy of Foreign Affairs, Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan, Cultural deputy of Islamic Azad University, and… He was assassinated in 1981 by MKO and was shot by 13 bullets. However, he was saved. He became Research Councilor of Foreign Ministry, President of Central Administration of Diplomacy Documents and History, and Iranian Ambassador to China. He has published books such as: “Independence, Culture and Development”, “Islamic Revolution Evolution” and “June 5th 1963 Rise”.
[7] In the war of Badr, Mushrekin’s slogan was “Uzza (one of the three chief goddesses of Arabian religion in pre-Islamic times) is ours and not yours” and Muslims would answer by the orders of Prophet Mohammad: “Allah is our master and not yours!”
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