[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 53 (Wednesday, May 3, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H2417]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page H2417]]
                           IRANIAN SHAM TRIAL

  (Mr. GILMAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to alert my colleagues to the ongoing 
sham trial of 13 Jews in Iran. Iran's judiciary said on Monday that 
suspect Hamid ``Danny'' Tefileen had confessed to passing classified 
information to Israel's Mossad, and Iranian state television broadcast 
an interview with Mr. Tefileen in which he stated he had been trained 
in Israel. It is obvious, Mr. Speaker, that his confession was coerced 
since the defendant's court-appointed attorney noted there was no 
information to back up that confession.
  Israel has repeatedly denied this man was a spy. And since I 
understand that it is not illegal for any Iranian citizen to visit 
Israel, the charges against Mr. Tefileen should be promptly dismissed.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge the Iranian government to free these men at once. 
They are not guilty of anything more than being Jewish. Moreover, I 
request my colleagues to cosponsor H. Con. Res. 307, a measure I 
introduced, along with the Speaker, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. 
Hastert), opposing this ongoing prosecution of 13 members of the Jewish 
community.

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