	The B'nai Brith Canada Institute for International Affairs has a mandate to protest the abuse of human rights throughout the world and advocate on behalf of worldwide Jewish communities in distress. The Institute has a special focus on pro-Israel advocacy and education.
Rochelle Wilner President	Frank Dimant Chief Executive Officer	Amos Sochaczevski National Chair	Ruth Klein National Director

There is no greater mitzvah than Redemption of Captives
Maimonides, Mishnah Torah, Hilchot Matanot Ani’im, Chapter 8, Article 10

THE TRIAL OF THE SHIRAZ 13

By Edward L. Greenspan, Q.C.
July 10, 2000

Captain Alfred Dreyfus of France; Mendel Beiliss of Russia; and to this list add 13 more from Iran (religion teachers, sales clerks and a teenager). 15 Jews. All arrested and detained for the same reason. All in prison for the same reason. Their crime was the same crime. You see, they were Jewish and they were all tried solely because they were all Jewish. None of them had committed a crime. All of them went to trial on trumped-up, unfounded charges. All of them are innocent. All of them were denied human dignity. All of them were denied fairness. All of them were persecuted. The one thing they are all guilty of is being Jewish. But be certain of this. The Shiraz 13 went on trial in Iran and it was Iran that was convicted - of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism.

Iran is bent on Israel’s destruction. Iran has nothing but violent hostility and enmity toward Israel. Iran’s declared archenemy is Israel. But Iran will never destroy Israel and they know it. Iran will never win against Israel and they know it. All this tyrannical bunch of bullies can win is the destruction of the Jewish people in their midst. And so they have started. This joke of a trial makes Iran a declared enemy of all nations that believe in justice. This so-called trial was a grievous violation of human rights and an affront to the notion of due process of law.

The Shiraz 13 were imprisoned for more than 15 months before coming to court. They were held in isolation and were not allowed access to any lawyers for more than 15 months. They were not even allowed access to their relatives for more than 15 months.

Three weeks before their so-called trial, they met their lawyers for the first time. Lawyers that they did not choose themselves – another violation of fundamental rights.

Iran cultivates militarism. Iran cultivates dogmatism. Iran cultivates anti-Zionism. Iran cultivates anti-Semitism. Iran cultivates ignorance. The arbitrary power of the Revolutionary Court is unlimited. And the flame of human rights has been extinguished in Iran as though the proclamation of the Rights of Man had never been.

The face of theocratic tyranny never changes. The Shiraz 13 were politically dead and convicted long before this so-called farce of a trial. They were tried in silence. They were convicted in silence, without so much as a challenge to their accusers.

Cyrus The Great freed the Jewish slaves. And 2500 years later, the Jews of Iran are slaves again. In Iran, whenever there is a problem, Jews are scapegoated.

Iran has chosen to live outside the society of civilized nations. When a country lives outside the society of civilized nations, it should be cut off by the world. It should be treated with contempt. It should be treated with scorn by all civilized nations.

All freedom-loving countries around the world must clearly show their disdain for the arrest, detention, trial, conviction and sentence of the Shiraz 10.

I call on Prime Minister Chretien to immediately recall our Ambassador from Tehran. Our Ambassador should never return to that awful place until the Shiraz 10 are freed. That is what a civilized freedom-loving nation must do. I call for Prime Minister Chretien to send back to Iran, their Charge d’Affaire. He should never be let back into this country ever again until the Shiraz 10 are freed. Iran’s main trading partners are Germany, France and Japan. I call on those countries to do the very same thing.

President Clinton says he is deeply disturbed by the verdict. It is not enough to just be deeply disturbed. The Shiraz 13 were arrested 15 months ago. Words are not enough. They must be freed. They must be released. Now! How can we stand by while people are tried simply because they’re Jews? The United States Secretary of State Madeline Albright has warned that the outcome of the trial would have international repercussions. Where are those repercussions?

A real judge must have detachment. A real judge must have neutrality. A real judge must have impartiality. The judge who presides over a criminal trial cannot investigate or prosecute. It is absurd. It is ludicrous. It is preposterous. It is farcical that the investigator, the prosecutor and the judge be one person. But the Shiraz 13 faced a so-called judge of the Islamic Revolutionary Court who, as investigator and prosecutor as well, disgraced the word “Judge”.

I know something about criminal trials and this was no trial. This was evil. This was an injustice. This was merely an expression of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. The Court action was a foregone conclusion. The convictions were a foregone conclusion. Long periods in jail were a foregone conclusion. It was not a trial. It was a circus. It was a show trial. This is a blot and a stain on the very word "Justice". Let them go!

When you close the door on a trial, you close the door on justice. This charade was closed to the public. No observers were allowed. No family members were allowed. No foreign diplomats were allowed. No representatives of human rights groups were allowed. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights has not been allowed into Iran since 1991, even with Khatami! A fundamental principle of justice is that the criminal process must not be secretive. Publicity is one of the surest guarantees of our liberty. It is one of the hallmarks of a democratic society. Open court is the very soul of justice. It allows everyone to see that justice is administered according to the rule of law. Open court provides a check on the potential abuse of power by judges, police and prosecutors. The ability to scrutinize judicial proceedings is one of the main safeguards of the integrity of our system. It maintains the trusted confidence of the general public. In the darkness of secrecy, sinister interest and evil in every shape have full swing. Where there is no public, there is no justice. Publicity is the very soul of justice. It is why we believe in the expression "Justice must not only be done, but be seen to be done".

In the trial of the Shiraz 13, we saw nothing. There were no news releases about the defence. There was no television about the defence. There was no one in the hearing room but the evil tyranny and the accused. Was evidence presented? We do know the only evidence offered were coerced confessions. They confessed under unknown circumstances before access to their lawyers or relatives. These coerced confessions are irrelevant and inadmissible. They were not made in the presence of their lawyers. And why not? Why not have their lawyers in the room? Because they are coerced lies. It is impossible to accept any accusation out of a tyrannical regime. It is impossible to accept any confession out of a tyrannical regime. We cannot take at face value any so-called evidence out of Iran. These confessions are nothing more than a travesty of justice. These totally fabricated confessions are a gross violation of human rights. A trial based on confessions and no evidence is what show trials are all about.

What is the value of confessions in these circumstances? If Iran wants to be accepted in the family of civilized nations it must allow the evidence to be examined by an independent Commission, by an impartial Commission and it must be prepared to abide by the decision of such a Commission. Nothing else will do.

The President of Iran, Mohammad Khatami, said Jews were equal citizens in Iran. He said the courts acted justly. Let the world examine the transcript of this trial to see whether or not he is the biggest liar in the world.

The Russian Blood Accusation trial of Mendel Beiliss was manufactured to inflame the people against the Jews. Its purpose was to turn back the forces of progress. The false accusation that the Jewish religion calls for the periodic ritualistic consumption of the blood of a Christian was born in the Middle Ages in the sewers of anti-Semitism. The new 21^st Century Blood accusation – accuse Jews of the Muslim world of Zionist spying for Israel. It is a contemptuous idea. It is a despicable idea. It grows out of slime. It grows out of ignorance. These accusations are cruel lies. Its purpose is to turn back the forces of progress. Its purpose is to inflame the mob.

The Captain Alfred Dreyfus Affair launched France into an overwhelming anti-Semitic episode. Then, after the hideous crimes the Nazis committed against the Jews, the world had hopes that the evils of anti-Semitism would end. That anti-Semitism would never happen again. Look to Iran! Look to the Shiraz 13.

This trial was a big lie. It was a primitive, grotesque and villainous affair. It was a crude preview of the destructive possibilities of the 21^st Century, a hint of the depths to which civilized men can sink.

The Jews of Iran no longer control their own destiny. But I tell you this. No Spanish Inquisition, no czars, no pogroms, no Nazis, no closed minds and no amount of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism will ever destroy us. We have been persecuted long enough. For thousands of years, Jews have been battled, surrounded by enemies seeking to conform us, remove us, exterminate us. Anti-Semitism is the worst hatred that has ever plagued the world. Anti-Semitism is the most persistent, the most virulent hatred which traces a pattern from the Roman Period, through the Dark Ages, the Crusades, The Inquisition, The Reformation and the Twentieth Century. Sometimes it is temporarily brought under control and then suddenly in some far part of the world it becomes endemic again. And so we add to the list, the Shiraz 13.

It has been said that the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Well, I say it is time that good men do something. Words are no longer enough. The world cannot rest until the Shiraz 10 are freed. Freedom now. Not tomorrow or tomorrow or tomorrow. But now. Let them go.

The Shiraz 10 were convicted by Iran for serving Israel, The Promised Land and the Torah. I say to our brothers in Shiraz – a prayer that is said just after the Torah is read: “As for those of our brethren of the whole house of Israel who are subjected to trouble or captivity on sea or on dry land; may God have mercy on them and deliver them from every trouble and speedily bring them from darkness to light and from oppression to freedom. And let us say Amen.“

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THE TRIAL OF THE SHIRAZ 13

By Edward L. Greenspan, Q.C.July 10, 2000

By Edward L. Greenspan, Q.C.
July 10, 2000