TEHRAN - A court on Thursday sentenced a young man to hang for stabbing to death an Islamic militiaman, state television reported.

Morteza Amini Moqaddam was sentenced to the gallows after a one-day trial for killing Hadi Mohebbi in a shop in southeast Tehran on Sunday. The hanging is expected to be carried out in front of the shop.

The court also sentenced an accomplice, Hamed Nazemi, to 15 years in jail and 74 lashes.
 

Summary Trial And Death Sentence Aimed At Terrorizing People, Iran Zamin News Agency, December 16

Only three days after the killing of Hadi Mohebbi, a Revolutionary Guards member and a commander of the paramilitary Bassij in East Tehran, the mullahs' regime held a summary show trial today and sentenced to death a teenager accused of killing Mohebbi. Another teenager was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment and 74 lashes.

Today's summary trial violated the most basic principles of due process, including the right to legal counsel, the right to appeal and the right to a fair trial. A criminal mullah was at the same time the judge, the prosecutor and the jury.

The mullahs' religious dictatorship has been shaken by increasing attacks in recent weeks on its repressive agents and those directly responsible for torture and execution. By holding summary trials such as today's and issuing death sentences on young people, it seeks to terrorize the public and stem the rise of antigovernment protests especially by the youth.

While the mullahs' judicial system is so swift in meting out punishment in this case, it has not yet held a single trial the masterminds and perpetrators of the murders of three Christian priests, a series of political murders, and many other heinous crimes, even though the clerical regime has acknowledged that all these criminal acts have been committed by its own Intelligence Ministry agents.
 

Another Pro-Khatami Newspaper Banned, Agence France Presse, December 16

TEHRAN - Press court has banned the daily Arya for two weeks for "damaging public opinion" following complaints by the security forces, press reports said Thursday.

Arya, which is close to Khatami, was also fined six million rials (2,000 dollars at the official exchange rate).

Iran's courts have shut down five pro-Khatami papers this year.

Iran's parliament is preparing a sweeping new press law that for the first time would hold individual journalists as well as newspaper directors liable for press code violations.
 

Judiciary Chief: Basij Has Legal Authority To Preserve Security, (State News Agency) IRNA, December 16

TEHRAN -- Head of the judiciary… Hashemi Shahroudi said the Basij members have legal authority to prevent crimes and preserve the security of the country.

In a meeting with commander of the Tharallah headquarters of the Basij, brigadier-general Nejat… Shahroudi appreciated the services of the Basij in confronting threats to the country's security and said that the volunteer forces have so far properly dealt with the counter-revolutionary activities.

"The enemies of the Islamic revolution have now employed complicated methods to jeopardize the Islamic Republic. This requires the country to take appropriate measures to deal with them," the judiciary chief said.
 

Suppression, Terrorism, Arms Buildup Top Priorities In Khatami's 2000 Budget Bill, Iran Zamin News Agency, December 16

The clerical regime' President Mohammad Khatami told the Majlis yesterday during the presentation of his budget for the year 2000 that the sectors earmarked to receive the biggest "rise" relative to the current budget were "security and public order" (a 54.5 percent hike) and "defense" (a 31 percent rise), according to the official news agency, IRNA.

In his Majlis speech, Khatami said, "maintenance of security" was "among the most important priorities in drawing up next year's budget."

The huge hike in the mullahs' military and repressive budget comes at a time when runaway inflation, widespread poverty and rising unemployment are taking a heavy toll on the average Iranian family.
 

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