TEHRAN Bench 5 of Tehran's Military Court, presided over by Judge Mohammadreza Aqiqi resumed Saturday the third closed-door trial for 18 culprits who are accused of carrying out the 1998 serial murders of intellectuals and political dissidents. It is said that several alleged secret police hitmen will be brought to book. All hearings are held behind closed doors by order of the presiding judge while the victims' families are boycotting court sessions in protest at alleged irregularities in investigations by the military prosecutor. Last Monday, Mostafa Kazemi, former director general for internal security at the Information Ministry, took the dock to answer questions posed by the court. Rogue agents with the Information Ministry were among the 18 culprits implicated in the killings. Among them was Saeed Emami, believed to have been the mastermind of the murders, who reportedly committed suicide by clandestinely swallowing a common domestically-made depilatory in the prison bath. Nationalist political activist Dariush Forouhar and his wife Parvaneh were assassinated at their residence in late 1998. Shortly afterward three other writers; Majid Sharif, Mohammad Mokhtari and Mohammad Pouyandeh were assassinated. The Head of Armed Forces Judicial Complex Mohammad Niazi has warned against any unauthorized revelations about the hearings. Niazi had warned that "anyone making speculations or revelations about the serial killings, or people will be prosecuted." The Judiciary has threatened to prosecute anyone making "unauthorized" comments on the case. Nasser Zarafshan, a lawyer for one of the victims' family, remains in jail for implying the killings were part of a campaign by death squads aimed at silencing opposition. Dissident Iranian journalist Akbar Ganji, who is on trial for threatening national security, implicated former information minister Ali Fallahian and a senior judge, Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, in the serial murders.

(IRNA)