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20 Iranian demonstrators face trial
 A protester runs past a fire during a demonstration on a street in Tehran on June 20. (Reuters) |
According to the official Iranian news agency IRNA, 20 protestors arrested during the civil unrest following the June 12 presidential election appeared in court on Aug. 1 on charges of undermining state security.
The full list of charges against the 20 detainees includes “offences against the state and the security of the state, associating with hypocrites, mounting attacks with explosives, possession of firearms and explosives, carrying out attacks on security forces and Islamic militias and sending photographs of demonstrations to enemy media.” IRNA claimed that some of those charged are members of the Mojahedin-e-Khalq, an organisation outlawed in Iran.
Iranian Public Prosecutor Qorban-Ali Dorri also confirmed that a large group of detainees were released from detention. On July 28, senior officials announced some 140 protesters arrested during the demonstrations would be released from Evin Prison in Tehran.
IRNA also reported that prominent Iranian dissident Saeed Hajarian is to be freed on the personal instructions of President Ahmadinejad. News of Hajarian’s deteriorating condition in prison has received broad media coverage. His family expressed grave concern for his health, especially given his partial paralysis resulting from an assassination attempt in 2000.
The release of the prisoners follows a directive from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The supreme leader also ordered the closure of Kahrizak Prison, where another large group of protestors is being held, on the grounds that it is “ill equipped to guarantee that the rights of detainees are respected.” Public sympathy in Iran for the protesters has also been stimulated by reports of the spread of lethal diseases in the detention centres where they are incarcerated.
Amnesty International Secretary General Irene Khan and Iranian human rights activist and Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi issued a joint statement on July 29 warning that the upcoming re-inauguration of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could unleash a massive new wave of oppression in the country.
Sources: Al-Arabiya / BBC
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