Fit for a foot soldier

A few days ago, I was reading a twelve page letter dated June 13, 2003, written by Abbas Abdi from Evin Prison in Tehran. The letter was originally published in one of the Internet sites (Rooydad) Before I describe the reason for discussing Abdi's complaint, an introduction of Mr. Abdi is in order.

Mr. Abdi is one of the three mid level mullah government employees who conducted (or were accused of conducting) a survey in Iran last year, trying to poll the Iranian public opinion towards the United States. To the extend I understood, the survey was conducted, wholly or partially, at the request of member(s) of the Majles deputies, who themselves are hand picked by the mullahs!

Mr. Abdi, and the two other accused members of the three member group, were “convicted” a few months ago based on their “admission” of wrong doing, and Mr. Abdi was sentenced to ten (10) years in prison. I believe the other two members either were acquitted, or lightly sentenced, but were freed by the “judge.”

Mr. Abdi, however, has a much more colorful past. He, along with a number of the current not-so-hot shots in Iran, including one of the current “Vice Presidents” of the mullah government, led a gang of criminals who climbed over the walls and gates of the United States Embassy in Tehran in 1979, and took a number of U.S. diplomats and other workers hostage for 444 days.

The crimes of this hostage taking gang, supported by Khomeini himself, are well known and documented. The gangster activities that were actually conducted or supervised by Mr. Abdi in the U.S. Embassy compound, and in the prison that housed U.S. diplomats, included beatings, mock executions, long and senseless interrogations, and sleep deprivation. The idea behind this hostage taking had nothing to do with the U.S.-Iranian relationship.

In the early times after the start of Iran's Khomeini troubles, and before gangster mullah bosses had been able to consolidate their grip on the sources of money and guns in Iran, it was becoming obvious to them that their lies were losing effect. They knew their rule was in danger of collapse, and they needed a diversion from their domestic troubles so that while people were preoccupied with an external issue, such as hostage taking, the mobsters could move to consolidate their grip on the sources of money and guns, and impose their rule.

Mr. Abdi, then only a foot soldier in the mullah gagster enterprise, showed effective brutality with hostages, and hence became one of the leaders of that gang. He was later promoted and received numerous rewards for his ruthlessness in handling of the hostages.

In fact, he must have had demonstrated so much willingness to personally impose inhumane treatment of the hostages and prisoners under his control that the gangster bosses gave him additional assignments of kidnaping and holding other people, as well as interrogation and torture. Mr. Abbas Amir Entezam, Deputy Prime Minister, and later ambassador to Sweden, under Mr. Bazargan's government, is another one of Mr. Abdi's kidnaped victims turned into long term prisoner.

Some readers may have more information regarding this criminal character and his tendencies as a terrorist, kidnaper, hostage taker, torturer, and perhaps even as a murderer. My own information about Mr. Abdi's character does not go deeper than what has been printed in newspapers. In general, anyone who takes human beings as hostage, regardless of the “reason” for such behavior, or excuses offered, must have tremendous criminal tendencies. Mr. Abdi cannot be excepted from this general rule.

It is hoped that enough background information is given here so that the reader sees this criminal for what he is. I am confident that Mr. Abdi's criminal activities have gained plenty of rewards for him, including money, government positions, perhaps a house or two, one of the Shah's cars (!), etc., etc.

The reader should only remember that this person is a career criminal, in a sense that he commits crimes against innocent human beings with pleasure, and without any remorse, and for a price. In his case, we know for certain that he has received jobs and government positions for which he has no qualifications, as payout for his criminal activity; at least the “judge” who sentenced him has said so!

Now the point for which I described the above background information: In his twelve page letter (written in Farsi) Mr. Abdi has described the ” Gestapo” style attack on his apartment in the middle of the night. Being pulled out of his bed while his wife and kid(s) watched in horror, arrested and filmed (yes, filmed) while his apartment was being ransacked, and all his papers and valuables taken away.

He has been subjected to lengthy interrogations on several occasions while he was tied to a bench in the prison interrogation chamber, blindfolded to assure he is unable to see anyone or anything, being subjected to multiple threats, more than once being subjected to kangaroo style interrogations and court trials. As he tells it, he finally accepts what he considers to be a plea bargain: he will write the confession papers as the “judge” dictates to him, and be publicly sentenced, in exchange for the promise of being released from prison within two days of the sentencing date.

Unfortunately for Mr. Abdi, his former comrades and bosses do what all mobsters do: they lie. Mr. Abdi is kept in prison; he is upset and unhappy. He should be reminded that mobster code of ethics (!) dictate that he be liquidated. The fact that he is still alive should indeed be good news to his mother!

Although much of his letter contains descriptions of events from his arrest to conviction, including a terrible prison life, the main point he is trying to communicate to the reader is not the short comings of the prison system, but the “injustice” and ” illegality” of his imprisonment. He declares that his imprisonment is “against Islamic principals,” and ” against civilized norms of behavior!” He recites many articles of “law” for which the “judge” who interrogated him, and subsequently convicted him, has ignored the “rule of law.”

Stories that he tells about his arrest, his description of the prison, interrogations, sleeplessness, the interrogators' threats for beating and killing him, as well as threats of torture against his family members, is shocking.

One of the unmistakable threats made to him involves his wife: several times during the interrogation, the “judge” makes threats to charge his wife with phantom crimes, and bring her into the general prison population, unless Mr. Abdi cooperates with what the judge needs to “prove.” The implication being that the wife could receive sexual assaults within the prison population, unless he agrees to admit what the “judge” dictates to him. And all this for a lousy poll taking job, if we are to believe Mr. Abdi's story!

Here is the point that I am trying to make: The man who is complaining about relatively “small” injustices (compared to kidnaping, hostage taking, and murder) is the person who took diplomats of a foreign government hostage for 444 days, against all norms of civilized behavior, against the international (and Iranian) law, and against the teachings of Islam, including those teachings that even the murderous mullahs accept.

Is this not interesting? Or laughable? When Mr. Abdi is caught in the same lawlessness net and structure that he helped to create, he complains about the lack of proper application of the law, and civilized norms of conduct and justice! From his point of view, it must have been just fine when he personally was violating all standards of behavior and justice, including kidnaping, taking hostage, torturing, beating, and perhaps even murdering innocent people! It is “terrible,” and “inhuman” when he is the subject of such violation!

When I first heard of Mr. Abdi's conviction for 10 years prison in the hands of a “judge,” (who, by-the-way is in the same class as Mr. Abdi himself) I was moved with happiness. I thought that at least one of the criminals participating in the kidnaping of innocent people is caught and will at least be getting part of the punishment that he deserves, even if it is on a trumped up and unrelated charge.

When I read his letter, though, I was reminded of the “justice” system that the murderous mullah government has set up in Iran. I was extremely saddened about the terrible faith of thousands of innocent Iranians who are arrested daily on trumped up charges. I did not know if I should start dancing in the street for this criminal low life getting punished twenty four years too late, even on an unrelated charge; or cry for the injustices, looting and destruction that the murderous mullah government has brought to this nation.

A criminal enterprise is run by criminals for the sole purpose of the boss' gain, who in turn distributes some of the crumbs of the loot among his foot soldiers, enforcers, and mid level captains. When such an enterprise is overlaid on a government, the target of extortion would be the wealth of the governed. Enforcement must then be imposed on all who raise their voice, or head, seeking freedom and objecting to the looting that is going on. Enforcement must also be imposed on one of their own gangster foot soldiers whose goal may have been to steal more than his share of the loot!

Mr. Abdi appears not to have learned this lesson when he started his criminal career twenty four years ago: the boss decides what a foot soldier's share is! He should be reminded of the wisdom written in a poetic form long ago. The poetry is in Farsi, but it is written here using the English alphabet, followed by a rough translation into English. I hope that those who can read Farsi will remember the original poetry.

Az mokaafaat-eh amal ghaafel masho
Gandom az gandom berouyad, joe ze joe.

Rough translation:
Do not forget the consequences of your actions
[Be aware that only] Wheat will grow from [sowing] wheat, barley from [sowing] barley.

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