Iran: Protestors Tried Without Prior Disclosure Of Charges

The actions taken by the Iranian government to prosecute 100 protestorsarrested during the demonstrations following the June 12, 2009 presidential election have taken a bizarre turn, unusual even for the arcane judicial system employed in Iran.

All 100 defendants and their lawyers have been denied any opportunity toreview the criminal charges made against their clients. This is in direct violation of Iran’s constitution but has not affected the court’s willingness to proceed with the trial. Forcing people to go to trial without knowing the charges made against them deprives them of the opportunity to prepare, to find witnesses, to engage in discovery, to review evidence, all of the things which defendants ordinarily rely on for their defense.

In addition, the protestors were tortured into making confessions and the court’s have agreed to admit the “confessions” into evidence regardless of how they were obtained.

Among those on trial are figures from Iran’s reformist movement, including Behzad Nabavi, a former industry minister and deputy speaker of parliament, Abdollah Ramazanzadeh, a former government spokesman and Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a former vice-president.

The accused appeared in court on Saturday to face allegations that, among other things, they attacked security forces and destroyed property following the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s president, on June 12.

The opposition denounced the election as fraudulent, saying it was stolen from Mir Hossein Mousavi, Ahmadinejad’s main rival.

In the days following the vote about 2,000 protesters, reformists, political activists and journalists were detained amid widespread clashes with police.
A prosecutor in the trial said at Saturday’s hearing said the opposition was a “tool of foreign enemies“.He accused the three biggest opposition parties of receiving money from foreign non-governmental organizations as they plotted an overthrow of the government.

The charges, read out in court by the prosecutor from a 15-page indictment, included attacking military and government buildings, having links with armed opposition groups and conspiring against the ruling system, IRNA, Iran’s official news agency, reported.

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