Tehran, Dec 26, IRNA -- Deputy Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Reza Khatami said here on Wednesday that political activist Abbas Abdi's trial, like many trials of the same kind, are not of natural judiciary type, but rather of a "political nature."

The first MP of Tehran Constituency who was talking to reporters after the Wednesday hearing session of Abdi said: "Despite vast propagation launched prior to the hearing session, the process of the pollsters' hearings and the Ayandeh Opinion Poll Institute proved that absolutely no crime has taken place."

The president's brother and Secretary General of the leading Mosharekat (Participation) Party said that there was "nothing particular" in the general process of the hearing. He added, "the representative of the Prosecutor General repeated the same stuff he had once said during (the other accused individual in pollsters' file Qazian's hearing, this time orating it as a pompous political address."

He added, "samples of that literature can be seen in (certain) dailies' editorials."

In response to a question on the probable verdicts to be issued by the judge, Khatami said, "I do not consider files like this one of judiciary nature, and this is nothing new an unprecedented in this country."

He added that on accusations brought up against the culprits of the case it is the job of the lawyers to analyze and to judge them. "But knowing Abdi and his background, keeping in mind that the accusations brought up against him during the hearing were obviously politically motivated, having no legal weight, if I were a member of the jurors, I would have voted that the culprits are all not guilty."

Khatami said, "If justice, truthfulness and common sense would matter (in issuing the decrees), I believe the culprits should all be acquitted of all accused crimes."

Dr. Khatami reiterated, "on accusation of selling (classified) documents the best thing to do would be to reveal the names of the individuals who did so, and the political parties to which they belong.

On the possible verdicts to be issued for the culprits of the pollsters' case, Khatami said, "Abdi has clearly emphasized that he has not committed any crimes, and if anything, there might have been mistakes."

Stressing that the judgment of the public about the case would be the most accurate one, he expressed hope that the court, which has followed the natural procedure of judiciary cases in this file so far, would step forward and ban certain behaviors, such as "keeping the accused in solitary cells for long periods, denying them the right to meet their family members, or other deprivations of that kind, which can be against the laws."

Referring to the fact that the hearing sessions seem to be nearing their end, the Mosharekat Party Sec. Gen. expressed hope that the court would accept bails and free the culprits, "so that further proof would be provided for what has been said at court room, and the culprits would once again when they are freed emphasize that they committed such and such crimes, or made such and such mistakes!"

Addressing the audience, Khatami asked, "which of you has ever experienced the solitary cell?"

He added, "The accused in this case have not been tortured, but according to those who have been imprisoned, including the Leader of the revolution, the most severe type of torture is solitary confinement for a long period"

Khatami said that Abdi has once had a meeting with his lawyer for 12 minutes on December 7th, and a second time on Tuesday night, December 23, just before the Wednesday hearing session."

He added, "Abdi has seen his mother only once, and had two telephone conversations with his family members. Now if you call that natural and normal treatment of the prisoners, what would the unnatural and bad treatment of them be then?!"

He said that such information is based on "my own conversation with Abdi, as well as an interview published with him in newspapers a few days ago."

The deputy parliament speaker said, that Abdi had several times requested to have meetings with his lawyer and family members, which had all been unheeded, "until the publication of that interview with him, after which he had been granted those few meetings."

Khatami said, "at any rate when our friend is imprisoned it is natural for us to be worried about him, and to feel sorry about the (vast wave of) unfair propagation launched against him outside."

The president's brother said, "generally speaking, the process of such hearings, particularly if they are open to the public, would assist the reformists in approaching their objectives."

The Tehran MP stressed, "one of the major problems with which this country is curently entangled is the lack of an independent judiciary system."

On probability of dissolving the Mosharekat Party due to the accusation brought up against it, meaning the sale of classified documents, Mohammad-Reza Khatami said, "no noteworthy classified document is to be found in this file, I assure you."

Khatami at the end once again emphasized that (the pollsters) hearing is merely of a political nature, pointing to the fact, "had the information in this case been of classified type, would they all have been openly debated during the court hearings, or published at the press, as they have been?" further arguing, "that is further proof for what we claim."

A packed court here Wednesday started trial of Abbas Abdi who is held over a polling which claimed most Iranians favored ties with the United States.

The trial started at Bench 1410 of the Tehran general court and the plaintiff in the case read out his indictment, accusing Abdi of "selling information and tampering with the polling".

Besides Abdi's family, several MPs, including Parliament's Vice-Speaker and head of the Islamic Iran Participation Front (IIPF), Mohammad Reza Khatami, attended the court trial.

The case, which also involves three other people, is related to a survey published by the Ayandeh research institute which claimed most Iranians favored dialogue with the United States.

The court has accused the defendants of carrying out the research on the order of the Washington-based Gallup Organization.

Other people involved in the case are Hossein Qazian and Alireza Alavitabar, both related to the Ayandeh research institute. The fourth defendant in the case, Behrouz Geranpayeh, who is the head of the National Institute for Research and Opinion Polls, faces similar charges which have yet to be brought against him.

Qazian, Abdi and Geranpayeh are held in detention, but Alavitabar has not been arrested yet.

Abdi is a member of the IIPF and former student leader in the takeover of US embassy in Tehran. His arrest came on the 23rd anniversary of the takeover.

Tehran and Washington have held no diplomatic ties since 1979 after the US severed its relations with the Islamic Republic after 'Students Following Imam's (Khomeini) Path' stormed the US embassy, known as the den of espionage, and took its staff hostage.

Abdi is one of the then university students that occupied the US embassy.

He also had an interview with former US embassy staffer taken hostage in 1979, Barry Rosen in February 2001, which was one of the accusatins brought up against him during the Wednesday hearing.