Trials of 37 Ashura Day Protesters

Tehran Prosecutor has announced that cases of 37 Ashura Day detainees whose initial investigations are now complete have been forwarded to Islamic Revolutionary Courts, bearing separate indictments. ISNA quoted the Web site of General and Revolutionary Courts of Tehran to say that charges for the suspects in these cases are five cases of ‘heretics (moharebeh)” and “Corruption on Earth,” and the rest of the suspects’ charges are “congregation and mutiny against national security,” “propagation against the regime,” 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 investigations, and prior records of the suspects. According to this report, on Saturday, February 1, 2010, public trials for 16 of these suspects will be held at Branch 15 of Tehran Islamic Revolutionary Courts and 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 to several arrested suspects have told International Campaign for Human Rights that judicial authorities have not allowed them to review their clients’ cases and have not had any access to the 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 of immense pressure for forced confessions.