By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
 
TEHRAN, Iran – On August 1, over one hundred Iranians were put on trial in what the leading reform party called a “laughable show trial.”

Those on trial were arrested during protests following the disputed June 12 presidential election, in which Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed victory over the reformist candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi. Thousands of Mr. Mousavi’s supporters took to the streets, saying the election had been rigged.

The charges levied against the arrested protestors include vandalism and acting against the national security. State Iranian television showed images of the prisoners, all in blue jumpsuits and surrounded by armed guards, some were shackled. The number of prisoners shocked Iranians, as only a few days prior, the government had said that only twenty people would go on trial. Aside from the state television camera, the courtroom was closed to the press, and lawyers were not allowed in.

The men in the blue jumpsuits included almost every major figure in the Iranian reform movement, and many of them had served in the administration of former President Mohammad Khatami. Muhammad Ali Abtahi, a cleric who served as vice president under Khatami, was among those arrested soon after the June 12 election and had reportedly appeared in a videotape, tearfully confessing to the government charges. Human rights groups and the defendants appearing in court today have said that such videotaped confessions are common practice, and are almost always made under duress.

Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian human rights lawyer and Nobel peace laureate, denounced the trial, and called for European nations to pull their representatives from Tehran. Ms. Ebadi said that she believes reform will come to Iran, but not through foreign influence.

“Reforms only come from within,” Ebadi said. “One day we will realize reform in a real sense.”

For more information, please see:

The Times – Iran’s Arrested Activists Find Champion in Lilac Tweed – 2 August 2009

Al-Jazeera – Iran Puts Protestors on Trial– 1 August 2009

BBC News – Iran Reformers Slate Trial “Sham”– 1 August 2009

Los Angeles Times – Iran: Trials Start for 100 Reformists, Moderate Politicians in Iran– 1 August 2009

New York Times – Mass Trial for Protestors Begins in Iran– 1 August 2009