Sunday, August 2, 2009

Iran Trials Denounced – Confessions under Torture

Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami denounced today the trial of approximately 100 people charged with taking part in post-election demonstrations. The trials took place on Saturday.

“What was done yesterday is against the constitution, laws and right of the citizens,” Khatami told a group of lawmakers and political activist. “The court relied on confessions taken under certain circumstances which are not valid.”

“The most important problem with the trials is that it was not held in an open session. The lawyers and the defendants were not informed of the contents of the cases ahead of the trial,” Khatami said.

Meanwhile, the opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi said in Tehran today that confessions at trial were extracted under “torture.”

Iran put 10 more protesters on trial in the revolutionary court in Tehran today [ISNA].

We believe the trials, reminiscent of Stalin-era trials of top Soviet leadership, are indeed invalid and will further inflame the anti-government sentiments among the youths and other segments of the population. Governments apparently have tough time to learn from history.


Mohammad Ali Abtahi, Iran's former vice president, shown before his arrest (l.) and at his trial on Saturday

1 comment:

Ali said...

Watching recent FAKE confessions made me to come to this conclusion that the leader is mentally ill as it was circulated on the internet. I think he suffers from "cynicism" and the only cure to alleviate his pain is to prove his hallucinations by every means he finds.