Trials of Thirty-Seven Ashura Day Protesters

Tehran’s Prosecutor has announced that the cases of thirty-seven Ashura Day detainees, whose initial investigations are now complete, have been forwarded to Islamic Revolutionary Courts, bearing separate indictments. The Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) quoted the website of the General and Revolutionary Courts of Tehran to say that the suspects are being charged as ‘heretics’ (moharebeh) and with ‘Corruption on Earth,’ (mofsed fel-arz). The rest of the suspects’ charges are ‘congregation and mutiny against national security,’ ‘propaganda against the state,’ and ‘intent to disrupt national security through incitement of people to riots and anarchy.’

These indictments are based on official reports, explicit confessions of the suspects, additional investigation, and prior records of the suspects. According to this report, on Saturday, 1 February 2010, public trials for 16 of these suspects will be held at Branch 15 of Tehran Islamic Revolutionary Courts and the suspects’ lawyers and District Attorney will be present.

All suspects for these cases are in detention and have been unable to meet with their attorneys since their arrests. Attorneys for several arrested suspects have told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that judicial authorities have not allowed them to review their clients’ cases and they have not had any access to their clients or their files since the arrests. Some of the suspects have been able to visit with their families or lawyers briefly and have reported being under immense pressure to confess falsely.