6 MONTH CD

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Waiting, But Not Silently

As anti-Iran protests grow, judges delay decision
on 10 Jewish prisoners.

MICHAEL J. JORDAN
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

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Reduced Terms?

Convicted July 1, the 10 Jews have
already served 18 months in prison.
Their sentences range from four to 13
years, but Malcolm Hoenlein, execu-
tive vice chairman of the Conference
of Presidents, says sources indicate that
several more may be released, with jail
terms reduced for the rest.
Hoenlein, who met with Iran's par-
liament speaker last week, hopes to
plead his case directly to Khatami.
"We should meet with Khatami to
send the right message that the appeals
should succeed and security be guar-

WAITING

on page 22

Additional Jews in Jail
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
a even }rears ago, 11 Iranian Jewish teen-agers were arrested, allegedly for
QV trying to leave Iran illegally. They were reportedly found in border areas,

PARAMOUNT

FDIC

he Iranian judiciary has
postponed at least for
another week a decision on
the appeals of 10 Iranian
Jews convicted of spying for Israel.
The delay is ostensibly because the
three judges reviewing the appeals are
divided on whether the charges the Jews
were convicted of actually constituted a
crime. But few observers doubt that
domestic Iranian politics are at play.
If anything, they say, the delay under-
mines the efforts by Iranian President
Mohammad Khatami — on the eve of
his address to the United Nations this
week — to spruce up his image as a
reformer and to bolster his claim that
he, not the Islamic fundamentalists, is
truly in control of his country.
The delay also did nothing to
defuse a flurry of street protests and
behind-the-scenes diplomacy that
greeted Khatami as he and 150 other
heads of state arrived in New York for
the U.N. Millennium Summit.
Jewish groups sponsored two media
events just blocks away from the
United Nations, while an Iranian exile
organization held a noisy anti-Khatami

demonstration within earshot of visit-
ing dignitaries from around the world.
"We cannot tolerate a situation
where it is a crime simply for being
Jewish," said New York Gov. George
Pataki, who headlined Tuesday's first
street event, sponsored jointly by the
Conference of Presidents of Major
American Jewish Organizations and
the Jewish Community Relations
Council of New York.
A second event was organized by
AMCHA — The Coalition for Jewish
Concerns.

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perhaps indicating they were on their way out, said Malcolm Hoenlein,
executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American
Jewish Organizations.
After a time, nothing was heard about them again, and the families pre-
sumed they had been executed.
However, Hoenlein, who is in steady contact with sources within Iran,
said a recently released prisoner from a Tehran jail spotted several of the
missing Jews, who would now be in their mid- to late-20s.
The disappearances were not raised with the Iranian authorities earlier, said
Hoenlein, because Jewish activists were focused on freeing the 10 Iranian Jews
who have been imprisoned for more than 18 months on charges of spying for
Israel.
Yet Hoenlein confirmed that he broached the subject of the earlier group
last week during a face-to-face discussion with Mehdi Kharroubi, the speak-
er of Iran's parliament, at an event in New York hosted by the Iranian
American Council.
Kharroubi told Hoenlein that he "was unaware of the case, but he was very
receptive to helping." ❑

