Trial of Khosrow Golsorkhi (DVD)

Leftist Iranian poet and advocate of revolutionary commitment in literature, who was executed after a political show trial.

Born in Rasht, Khosrow Golsorkhi became a journalist by profession. In 1972 he was arrested and accused of plotting against the royal family. In fact, the plot was concocted by SAVAK, which used agents provocateurs to string together a dozen leftist intellectuals, some of whom had discussed plans to kidnap members of the royal family and swap them for political prisoners.

Contrary to the usual procedure for closed political tribunals, highlights of the so-called Golsorkhi group's trial were broadcast on Iran's network television. The defendants were expected to recant publicly and appeal to the shah, who would then commute the court's harsh sentences. Tortured and facing the gallows, most recanted and received lesser punishments. However, Golsorkhi, along with the filmmaker Karamat Daneshian, denounced the regime. They were both executed and immediately became heroes to the opposition as well as to the general public. University and high school students went on strike and the defiant duo's names (especially Golsorkhi's, evoking the leftist symbol of the red flower) were commemorated in numerous literary references and popular songs