FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 21, 2000

SCHUMER CONDEMNS APPEALS COURT VERDICT IN IRANIAN JEWS ESPIONAGE TRIAL

Schumer Says That Verdict in Sham Trial Proves That Iran Is Still Not Ready To Join Community of Nations
Senator Charles E. Schumer today condemned the verdict of an appeals court in Iran in the trial of 10 Iranian Jews accused of espionage. The court upheld one of the three charges against the Jews and sentenced them to two to nine years in prison. Schumer said that the verdict should serve as a wake-up call that Iran is not ready to join the community of nations and called on President Bill Clinton to make clear to Iran that relations between America and Iran will not improve as long as long as Iran continues to persecute its Jewish minority.

Schumer made the following statement in response to the verdict:

"I greet the news from Iran that an appeals court has upheld one of the guilty verdicts levied against 10 Iranian Jews charged with espionage with profound disappointment. There is no such thing as being half-innocent. These men, against whom no evidence whatsoever was produced to even justify their initial arrest, must remain in prison and be labeled spies for the rest of their lives.

"This decision once again shows America and the world that Iran is still not ready to enter the community of nations in good standing. It is also a wake-up call to America that our recent policy of unilaterally lifting sanctions against Teheran in the hope that Iran would show progress in human rights has failed. I have urged the President to use the case of the 10 Iranian Jews as a barometer for US-Iranian relations, and today I renew that call. The Administration must make clear to the leaders of Iran that improved relations between our two nations is only a pipe dream while this sort of sham justice is inflicted upon its Jewish majority."

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