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Iran to begin trials of election protesters

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Iran officials said Wednesday that they plan to begin trials Sunday for 20 of those detained during protests of the controversial reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The protesters have been charged with crimes ranging from vandalism and organizing riots to sending pictures of the protests to "enemy media." Iranian officials announced earlier this week that it planned to either press charges against or release most of those held after the riots. It has already released 140 of those detained and closed one prison holding protesters, after Human Rights Watch and other groups alleged that some protesters were beaten, deprived of sleep, and threatened with torture in an effort to force false confessions. Earlier this month, opposition leaders called for the release of those detained for their alleged involvement in the protests. Also this month, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran (ICHRI) reported that the number of deaths that occurred at the protests exceeded government reports. Human rights groups have viewed the arrests as political repression, saying that Iranian forces are using the protests to "engage in what appears to be a major purge of reform-oriented individuals." Despite the controversy, the country's Guardian Council of the Constitution recently certified the contested results, officially sanctioning the re-election of Ahmadinejad.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on July 29, 2009 (boomark / email).