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HARD-LINE IRANIAN ACTIVIST RELEASED FROM JAIL.

Ansar-i Hizbullah leader Said Asqar was seen shopping with his wife in the vicinity of Dolatabad Avenue on 9 September, Fars News Agency reported on 11 September. He was released from Evin prison a few days earlier, an anonymous "informed source" told Fars. Asqar received a 15-year prison sentence for shooting reformist ideologue Said Hajjarian in March 2000, but he was out on bail when he played a role in suppressing the June 2003 student unrest (see "RFE/RL Iran Report," 27 March 2000, 29 May 2000, and 23 June 2003). He subsequently turned himself in when he heard that Prosecutor-General Said Mortazavi was seeking his arrest (see "RFE/RL Iran Report," 11 August 2003). BS

source: RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 7, No. 174, Part III, 12 September 2003

Comment: It seems they are releasing some...

Update on the above: RELEASE OF HARD-LINE ACTIVIST RENEWS FOCUS ON VIGILANTES.

Iranian journalists, student activists, and political dissidents are routinely jailed and held incommunicado for extended periods. While in prison, they are subject to physical and mental torture and forced to participate in televised confessions. Hard-line activists, however, seem to be able to come and go as they please, killing and beating their fellow citizens without penalty. Recent developments in the case of Said Asqar, a leader in the Ansar-i Hizbullah, shed some light on this situation.

Asqar was released from Evin prison and seen shopping with his wife in the vicinity of Dolatabad Avenue on 9 September, Fars News Agency reported on 11 September. Asqar received a 15-year prison sentence for shooting reformist ideologue Said Hajjarian in March 2000, but was out on bail when he played a role in suppressing the June 2003 unrest (see "RFE/RL Iran Report," 27 March and 29 May 2000, and 23 June 2003). He subsequently turned himself in when he heard that Prosecutor-General Said Mortazavi wanted to have him arrested (see "RFE/RL Iran Report," 11 August 2003).

The Tehran governor-general's assistant for political-security affairs, Ebrahim Rezai-Babadi, said in the 16 June "Iran" that Asqar was the main person behind the June 2003 violence at Allameh Tabatabai University's Tarasht Dormitory. Rezai-Babadi promised that Asqar and his cohorts would be dealt with severely.

But certain irregularities came to light after Asqar's trial got under way in mid-August. The indictment against him described Asqar as a man without a criminal record and disregarded his conviction in the Hajjarian case, "Aftab-i Yazd" reported on 18 August. Moreover, there was no follow-up on the complaints against him by the police intelligence unit or the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps.

Hard-line vigilantes such as the Ansar-i Hizbullah are sometimes referred to as plainclothesmen (lebas shakhsi-ha) or pressure groups, and they routinely justify their actions as being in defense of the theocratic system and Islam. Rezai-Babadi, however, described the plainclothesmen as a problem for the security forces -- "obstinate individuals who prevent the establishment of security with their presence."

Interior Ministry Undersecretary for Security and Discipline Ali-Asqar Ahmadi also criticized these individuals in an interview that appeared in the 28 July "Nasim-i Saba." "They think they are serving the system," he said of the plainclothesmen. In reality, Ahmadi said, "they play a role in the commotion and creation of insecurity. Then they interfere in the activities of the security and disciplinary forces." Therefore, Ahmadi asked, how can they be described as defenders of the system?

A different perspective on vigilantes and plainclothesmen came from Mohammad Ali Rahmani, who heads the police's Ideological and Political Organization. Rahmani said that people who interfere in security affairs on their own initiative and are not organized are vigilantes, and it is inaccurate to call them plainclothesmen, "Aftab-i Yazd" reported on 12 July. Rahmani went on to say that the police may sometimes call on the Basij for help, but then the Basij personnel would be under the police's command. Basij personnel who are not under police command and have not been organized do not have any right to interfere with police activities

Mohammad Zeynalzadeh, a member of the Tehran Province universities' Student Basij Central Council, offered yet another perspective on how the vigilantes are organized. He said in the 16 June "Entekhab" that there are four categories of such groups. The first group has revolutionary concerns and consists of people who act on their own initiative, but ignore Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The second group deceives students into opposing the regime's revolutionary wing. "The third group is made up of concerned and understanding Hizbullah individuals who cannot tolerate this situation."

Zeynalzadeh said the fourth group, which is the biggest one, consists of what he termed "official agents." He continued: "These are the people who can be present on the stage but not in uniforms. Many of them come from the Law Enforcement Security Division [hefazat-i niru-yi entezami] or the security divisions of other organizations. At any rate, all security, military, and law enforcement organs in our country see themselves as having responsibilities in this situation. It is natural for their security and intelligence forces to be present on this arena." (Bill Samii)

Source: RFE/RL Iran Report Vol. 6, No. 37, 15 September 2003

As far as I know, He is a militant who was also responsible for terror of the Reformist spiritual leader in Tehran back in March 2000.
He is a terrorist...