Family denies Iran's terror claims

Baroness Nicholson, Euro MP for the South-East, has twice visited Ebrahim Khodabandeh, of Barnet, and Jamil Bassam, of Hendon, first in Iran's Evin prison in February and then at Mr Khodabandeh's mother's house nearby in March. Both men are refugees who have lived in the borough for more than 30 years and left Iran before the current clerical regime took control in 1979. Back in Barnet, Mr Khodabandeh's wife, Elaheh Azimfar, strongly denied the Iranian government's claims.
Baroness Nicholson heard about their plight while she was in Iran fundraising for victims of the Bam earthquake. She was told by the Iranian authorities that the men are members of the People's Mojahedin Of Iran (PMOI) movement, which is a banned terrorist organisation in the US and UK.

Baroness Nicholson said: "When I was told by the authorities they were in prison I immediately requested a visit. They are awaiting trial.

"I was told by the authorities that they were caught by Syrian customs officers on the border between Iraq and Syria with US$1m and documents on them which were intended to spread the People's Mojahedin Of Iran (PMOI) movement in Europe. It was being passed over at the border. Of course the prisoners told me a lot more.

"But it's important not to get in the way of what will be said in court.

"They have asked me to visit again and I will do so constantly. They are in good physical condition and as far as I can tell they are in good mental health.

"They said they were surprised at how well they had been treated. They said they had not asked for the Foreign Office (FO) to visit them and said they did not want me to get in touch with the FO neither man is a British citizen."

The Baroness refused to say if the men claimed to be innocent of any crime because she said she did not want to prejudice any future trial in Iran. No charges have yet been brought against them.

The PMOI is a member organisation of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which both men belong to. They were arrested in April last year and then flown to Iran. By returning them to the country from which they had fled, Syria broke the Geneva Convention on Refugees.

While Baroness Nicholson has denounced the PMOI in Parliament, other prominent MPs, including Sir Sydney Chapman, the MP for Chipping Barnet, do not believe that the PMOI should be on the list of terrorist organisations.

Win Griffiths, MP for Bridgend in Wales, has set up an ad hoc committee to free Mr Khodabandeh and Mr Bassam.

Baroness Nicholson's comments have been met with fury from Mr Khodabandeh's wife, Elaheh Azimfar, who denies that her husband and Mr Bassam were on a mission to Syria on behalf of the Iranian resistance.

"I am not surprised to hear this from Baroness Nicholson and I will not believe it unless it is confirmed by a third party. There is no such thing as a fair trial in Iran," she said.

Dowlat Nowrouzi, of the NCRI, also denied Baroness Nicholson's claims.

"It is not true. Iran wants to spread this about to legitimise its illegal act of their abduction and torture," she said.

Baroness Nicholson herself declined to comment on the state of democracy in Iran. The Iranian authorities have so far refused the FO and the International Committee of the Red Cross permission to visit the men.

Baroness Nicholson said: "I'm a firm believer in high-quality political and trade dialogue with Iran. I'm not sure the ad hoc committee is really necessary but I am sure it's well meant and that my colleagues have the best of intentions."

Baroness Nicholson has spent a lot of time in the Gulf region, including helping the Iraqi Marsh Arabs, who were persecuted by Saddam Hussein. She set up the Amar Foundation, named after a young Marsh Arab.

1:46pm Thursday 29th April 2004

Note:

Iran-Interlink has been in close contact with Mr Khodabandeh's family both in the UK and in Tehran since their return to Iran, and has followed the progress of the men's legal case. Mr Khodabandeh's family blame the Mojahedin-e Khalq/National Council of Resistance of Iran (MKO/NCRI) for using the two men for their illegal smuggling activities without their knowledge. The families say that the MKO/NCRI has been the main cause of the difficulty these two men now face. The family are angry about the continued falsification of their situation by the MKO/NCRI for its own propaganda purposes.

Mrs Elahe Azimfar, a well-known commander of the terrorist National Liberation Army of Iran (based in Iraq), who divorced Ebrahim Khodabandeh over ten years ago during the mass divorces of the MKO's Ideological Revolution, is trying to exploit this situation. For the past two months she has refused invitations to talk to her 'husband' over the telephone or to visit him in Iran.