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Stalin is alive and well and living in Iran
by Rene Wadlow
2009-09-02 09:20:37 |
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Despite the fanfare with which a body was placed in a glass casket next to Lenin and later transferred to the Kremlin Wall, Joseph Stalin is alive and well and living in Iran. The food was better than in the Soviet Union, and his advice on using the judiciary as a key instrument of staying in power was welcomed both by the Shah and the Islamic Revolution which followed. The hand of Stalin and his practice of ‘trial as political theatre’ are on display these days in Tehran.
Trials for their impact on public opinion — as well as a way of getting rid of potential opponents — had started early under the Bolshevik government, as the trials following the Kronstadt blood bath indicated. But it was in June 1928 that the first big Moscow trial took place — the Shakhti trial of 50 Soviet engineers charged with sabotage and espionage. In January 1928, Leon Trotsky had been arrested and banished to Central Asia. The endless trials of ‘Trotskyites’ and ‘enemies of the people’ followed with particular insistence in 1936, 1937, and 1938. The angels of the morning might be declared devils by nightfall. Yet the public would be shown only a tiny fraction of those shot in the back of the neck without a trial.
For the moment, Iran is still at the show trial stage with a Stalin/Trotsky division among the ruling elite, but the Stalinists are ahead — the ‘Trotskyites’ being those who still insist that the 12 June victory of President Ahmadenejad was won by fraud. An example of a ‘show trial’ destined for its public opinion impact is that of Saeed Hajjarian, leader of the Islamic Iran Participation Front, one of 100 defendants in a particular batch accused of trying to overthrow Iran’s clerical leadership.
In 2000, Mr Hajjarian had already shown signs of critical thinking so he was shot in the head at close range by persons never found. He did not die but is partly paralyzed and uses a walker. He has difficulty speaking. He had to be carried into the courtroom where a prosecutor read out a long list of accusations, including acting against national security, fomenting unrest, having contacts with British intelligence, and insulting the Supreme Leader.
As he was unable to speak fluently, a confession was read for him, renouncing all his writings of the past decade. Only confessions are permitted.
Even in his old age, Stalin must be pleased that so many look to him for advice.
*Rene Wadlow, Representative to the UN, Geneva, Association of World Citizens
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