Controversy as Iran closes off, halts controversial Kazemi trial

TEHRAN, July 18 (AFP) - Iran`s hardline judiciary, accused of a cover-up in the death in custody in Iranian-Canadian photographer Zahra Kazemi, drew fresh indignation Sunday by barring diplomats and journalists from the trial of her alleged killer and then abruptly halting the case.
As the second round of hearings into the controversial case opened, Canadian ambassador Philip Mackinnon, Dutch ambassador Hein De Vries as well as senior diplomats from the French and British embassies were bluntly told to stay out.
The foreign press were also barred from the court, and Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi and her legal team -- who are representing Kazemi`s enraged family -- stormed out after the judge rejected their call for more witnesses and ended the hearings.
"This is a very serious development, there will be diplomatic consequences," one of the diplomats said after waiting in his car outside the court for over an hour and failing to get a permit to enter.
"This goes against all the assurances we have had that the trial will be open and transparent," added another diplomat. "The cause of human rights in Iran has taken a very serious blow today."
Kazemi, a 54-year-old freelance photographer and a dual national, was arrested in June last for taking pictures outside Tehran`s notorious Evin prison. She died from a brain haemorrhage July 10, 2003.
The judiciary initially claimed she had died of a stroke, but a government report later revealed she had been struck by a blunt object while being interrogated.
Between her arrest and her admission to hospital, she spent several days of being shuttled between the custody of judicial prosecutors, the police and the intelligence ministry -- seen as closer to the reformist government.
The judiciary then charged 42-year-old intelligence agent Mohammad Reza Aghdam Ahmadi with "semi-intentional murder", a charge that carries up to three years in jail. The agent says he is a scapegoat.
Iran`s handling of the case is seen as key test of its resolve to tackle human rights abuses, and the issue has also focused concerns over what rights groups assert is the endemic use of beatings and torture here.
It has also severely damaged ties with Canada, which prior to the affair had been trying to "engage" the clerical regime in contrast to the tough position of the United States.
Ebadi`s legal team has accused the judiciary of trying an innocent man in order to protect one of their senior officials, Mohammad Bakhshi.
"The judge should not have ended the case. This trial is unfair," Ebadi told reporters after walking out. "They have ignored the real culprit and are accusing an innocent man."
Ebadi, the first Muslim woman to win the coveted Nobel Peace Prize, said the charges should have been for "premeditated murder" and called for the case to be referred to a higher provincial tribunal.
The mother of the victim, Ezzat Kazemi, had also made a damning declaration in court Saturday by claiming her daughter was tortured while in custody.
Even President Mohammad Khatami, a reformist, has called on his rivals in the judiciary -- a bastion of the Islamic republic`s religious right-wing -- to identify "the real guilty person".
The verdict is expect in about a week.
The Iranian foreign ministry was unapologetic about excluding the diplomats.
"I don`t know why they didn`t let the foreign diplomats into the court. Maybe they did not have enough chairs," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters, insisting that "Kazemi was an Iranian citizen".
Iran refuses to recognise dual nationality, and Asefi said the Canadians "don`t understand Iran" -- a common response from officials whenever their 25-year-old regime comes under criticism.
The controversial trial had resumed on Saturday after a nine-month gap, and journalists and diplomats had been able to attend -- causing Canada to reverse its decision to recall its ambassador.
Sunday`s barring of diplomats and controversial end to the trial means the ambassador is likely recalled after all, diplomatic sources said.
Ambassador MacKinnon was already called home over the affair last year after Kazemi`s body was hastily buried at her birthplace in the south of Iran. The victim`s mother later said she had been pressured into making the burial, which denied Canada the chance to make its own autopsy.
Also trying to monitor the trial was the Dutch ambassador to Tehran. The Netherlands currently holds the rotating European Union presidency and are one of the most determined advocates of human rights issues within the EU bloc.