Iranian Government Condemned to Pay Compensation to the Children of Abbas Amir-Entezam

A federal court in the United States has found the Iranian government guilty of torturing Abbas Amir-Entezam, the spokesman of the provisional government, and has ordered the Islamic Republic to pay $19.5 million in damages. Ali Harischi, the lawyer for Abbas Amir-Entezam's children, stated on Thursday, September 7, in an interview with VOA that the lawsuit pertains to the torture of Abbas Amir-Entezam, the 'brutal treatment' he received, and his 'unjust' imprisonment by the Iranian government. Abbas Amir-Entezam, a prominent official of the provisional government after the 1979 revolution and the most famous political prisoner of the Islamic Republic, passed away in 2018 at the age of 86 after enduring several decades of imprisonment. Ali Harischi emphasized that the main goal of Abbas Amir-Entezam's children in filing the lawsuit was to prove their father's innocence and seek justice against the injustices of the Islamic Republic towards this former political figure. Harischi stressed that Abbas Amir-Entezam never requested a pardon from the Iranian government and only sought a retrial to defend himself and restore his reputation. Abbas Amir-Entezam was arrested during the hostage crisis at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and was sentenced to death for 'collaboration with the Central Intelligence Agency, CIA,' a sentence that was later commuted to life imprisonment. The lawyer noted that due to a lack of financial resources for enforcing the court's ruling, this judgment serves to document the quest for justice and also as a mechanism to hold accountable those who easily play with the lives and dignity of people and torture them. Abbas Amir-Entezam's opposition to the position of the Supreme Leader in the Assembly of Experts is cited as one of the reasons for his being targeted by Ruhollah Khomeini. In a virtual ceremony marking the third anniversary of Abbas Amir-Entezam's death, it was stated that his case is national and he should be rehabilitated. A note by an Iranian-American poet and writer in tribute to Abbas Amir-Entezam was published in The Independent. Abbas Amir-Entezam, the most famous political prisoner of the Islamic Republic of Iran, passed away, and his body was buried in Tehran without a funeral.