2009 Iran poll protests trial

Last updated
Ahmad Zeidabadi and Javad Emam and others, during the trial 2009 Iran poll protests trial 02.jpg
Ahmad Zeidabadi and Javad Emam and others, during the trial

2009 Iran poll protests trial refers to a series of trials conducted after 2009 Iranian presidential election. Over 140 defendants, [1] including prominent politicians, academics and writers, were put on trial for participating in the 2009 Iranian election protests. [2] The defendants were accused of orchestrating "colour revolution" in Iran, [3] and "exposing cases of violations of human rights." [4] The trials were widely condemned by world leaders both in Iran and worldwide as a "show trial" with coerced confessions. [5]

Contents

Accused

On August 1, 2009 110 people were put on trial, including prominent reformists, journalists and writers. Among them were former Vice president Mohammad Ali Abtahi, former government spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh, former Deputy Speaker of the Parliament and Industry Minister Behzad Nabavi, reformist lawmaker Ali Tajernia, Shahaboddin Tabatabaei, journalist Ahmad Zeidabadi, and others. Other people put on trial include French Embassy employee, Nazak Afshar, nine British Embassy employees, including the Iranian-American scholar Kian Tajbakhsh, Hossein Rassam, Newsweek correspondent Maziar Bahari, and French academic Clotilde Reiss. [6] On August 16, 25 more defendants were added to the trial. [5]

Throughout the trials, family members of the defendants and others gathered in front of the court to condemn the trial. Witnesses reported that riot police attacked the protesters outside the court. The wife of detained reformist lawmaker Ali Tajernia was arrested while outside the court. [7]

On August 28, President Ahmadinejad called on judiciary officials to "decisively" and "mercilessly" prosecute those "who organized, incited and pursued the plans of the enemies," remarks called "clearly aimed at Mir Hussein Moussavi, Mehdi Karroubi, Mohammad Khatami, and Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. [8]

Charges and confessions

The charges included "rioting", "vandalism" and "acting against national security", "disturbing public order," having ties with counter-revolutionary groups according to official sources. [9]

In a press conference shown on state television several of the defendants – Abtahi, Kian Tajbakhsh, Maziar Bahari – made confessions and withdrew charges against the election results that some of them had made earlier. Critics of the prosecution and the confessions by the accused, such as Pamela Kilpadi, say the confessions, "have been forced under duress from (people) being held in an undisclosed location without access to a lawyer, family, or friends, in violation of the human rights treaties to which Iran is supposedly a signatory," [10] Prosecutors have warned against questioning the legitimacy of the trial, threatening to prosecute doubters. [11] The prosecutor read an indictment on August 8, 2009, that accused United States and Britain of stoking the unrest in an attempt to create a "soft overthrow" of the Iranian government. [6]

Prosecution

The prosecution is led by Saeed Mortazavi, the Prosecutor General of Tehran, [12] who has been called a "hardliner" for his role in the death of Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, [13] and the shutting down of 60 pro-reform newspapers. [14] The sentences for the charges range from a short imprisonment to capital punishment. [12]

Complaints about access and rights

According to journalist Borzou Daragahi, "only reporters with news organizations controlled by Ahmadinejad or his loyalists were granted access to the courtroom." [15]

Saleh Nikbakht, who represents some of the most prominent defendants, has complained of being sidelined from the trial. He told Radio Farda

"I have repeatedly notified the judiciary that I have agreed to represent the defendants at their request, but I was never granted permission to see the detainees and I wasn't notified about today's trial. ... I first heard about the trial today at 11:30 a.m. on television. When I went there, the doors were closed and they did not let me in." [16]

The families of the detained have also complained about the lack of openness in the trial. According to the website Norooznews.ir in a letter to judiciary chief Sadegh Larijani they said

"The lawyers are not even informed of where the hearings are held, nor have they studied the dossiers, ... We ask you, as Iran's top judge, to bring the ongoing judicial case back on the right track to keep the judiciary from losing more face." [15]

Sentences

So far, five people have received death sentences for their parts in the protest.

Two people were convicted for being members of a monarchist group and a third was convicted for his alleged ties to a terrorist group and for links to the People's Mujahedin of Iran. [17] The other two were convicted of ties to armed opposition groups. [18]

Iran's former vice president Mohammad Ali Abtahi was sentenced to six years in prison for taking part in the protests. [19]

Prisoner abuse

Opposition leaders have claimed that the prisoners have been tortured and raped in prison. UN human rights experts, opposition leaders, and world leaders condemned the abuse, which has been compared to Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison. [20]

Former Prime Minister and presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi has called the treatment of prisoners on trial "medieval torture". [21] Former chairman of Iranian parliament Mehdi Karroubi has stated that male and female prisoners have been raped in the prison and their genitals torn. In a letter to the head of Assembly of Experts he asked the head of the assembly to investigate abuses. [22] Amnesty International's secretary general has also called for an investigation into allegations of torture and rape in detention. [23] Iran's police chief, Gen. Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam, acknowledged that the prisoners had been abused and raped. [24]

Ali Larijani, Iran's parliament speaker, has denied that prisoners were abused. [25] In response to denials, several journalists and activists who were detained in the prisons, reported their own personal experience. On August 16, 2009, Fereshteh Ghazi, in an article in Rooz, wrote about her time in prison, describing the torture and sexual violence in Iranian prisons. [26]

Additionally, several of the prisoners died while in prison. Authorities claimed that they had "pre-existing conditions" that led to their deaths, however, examining of the bodies would show signs of torture and broken bones. At least three of the detained protesters have died while in prison at the Kahrizak detention center. [27] One prisoner, 24-year-old Amir Javadifar was clubbed by so badly that he was taken to a hospital and treated before being taken to Evin Prison. He would die while in prison and his father was later called to collect his corpse. Medical reports on his body would show that he had been beaten, had several broken bones and his toenails had been pulled out. [28] Another detainee, Amir Hossein Tufanian, who was in the Kahrizak detention center died while there. After his death, police allegedly demanded that his family pay thousands of dollars for his body. When the family protested that they had no money, they were told they could have it for free if they did not discuss it to anyone. Examinations would show that he had been tortured and had two broken arms. [28] The mysterious death of an Iranian prison doctor on November 10, 2009, continued to raise suspicions. The doctor, Dr. Ramin Pourandarjani, was the only doctor serving at the Kahrizak detention center. He came under scrutiny of the Iranian government when he refused to change the death certificate of Mohsen Rouhalamini, a protester detained at Kahrizakt, to meningitis rather than from torture and beatings. Conflicting reports from Iranian authorities regarding Dr. Pourandarjani's death led to massive outcries from opposition leaders. [29]

Many prisoners were raped while detained. In Tehran, at least 37 men and women claim to have been raped by their jailers. Doctors' reports say that two males, aged 17 and 22, died as a result of internal bleeding from being raped. [28]

There is some question as to the effectiveness of the confessions to turn public opinion in Iran. One observer has stated that "so far," the trials "have failed to accrue" the "fearsome power" of the Moscow show trials or earlier public confessions of Iranian secular leftists and MeK guerrillas in 1982, due to broad public support for the prisoners' cause and the "subversive" power of parodies and criticism of the trials on the Internet. [30]

On November 28, 2018 guards in Khoy female prison, north west of Iran attacked inmate Zeynab Jalalian and confiscated all her belongings. She was arrested in February 2007. [31]

International response

Human rights activists and Iranian intellectuals wrote a letter to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay calling the trials "crimes against humanity." [32]

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the trials a "sign of weakness" and that it shows Iran "is afraid of its own people" in an interview with CNN. [33] British Foreign Secretary David Miliband condemned the trial and said that accusing British Embassy staff of stoking the unrest "only brings further discredit to the Iranian regime." [6]

The Swedish Presidency of the European Union expressed concern over the trial and demanded that the prisoners be released promptly, saying "The Presidency reiterates that actions against one EU country — citizen or embassy staff — is considered an action against all of EU, and will be treated accordingly." [34]

On September 24, 2009, demonstrators from around the world gathered in New York City to protest against Ahmadinejad's speech to world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly. [35] [36]

See also

Related Research Articles

The Iranian Green Movement or Green Wave of Iran, also referred to as the Persian Awakening or Persian Spring by the western media, refers to a political movement that arose after the June 12, 2009 Iranian presidential election and lasted until early 2010, in which protesters demanded the removal of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from office. Green was initially used as the symbol of Mir Hossein Mousavi's campaign, but after the election it became the symbol of unity and hope for those asking for annulment of what they regarded as a fraudulent election. Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi are recognized as political leaders of the Green Movement. Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri was also mentioned as spiritual leader of the movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zahra Kazemi</span> Iranian-Canadian photojournalist (1948–2003)

Zahra "Ziba" Kazemi-Ahmadabadi was an Iranian-Canadian freelance photojournalist. She gained notoriety for her arrest in Iran and the circumstances in which she was held by Iranian authorities, in whose custody she was killed. Kazemi's autopsy report revealed that she had been raped and tortured by Iranian officials while she was at Evin Prison, located within the capital city of Tehran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evin Prison</span> Prison in Iran

Evin Prison is a prison located in the Evin neighborhood of Tehran, Iran. The prison has been the primary site for the housing of Iran's political prisoners since 1972, before and after the Iranian Revolution, in a purpose-built wing nicknamed "Evin University" due to the high number of students and intellectuals detained there. Evin Prison has been accused of committing "serious human rights abuses" against its political dissidents and critics of the government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forced confession</span> Confession obtained from a person under duress

A forced confession is a confession obtained from a suspect or a prisoner by means of torture or other forms of duress. Depending on the level of coercion used, a forced confession is not valid in revealing the truth. The individuals being interrogated may agree to the story presented to them or even make up falsehoods themselves in order to satisfy the interrogator and discontinue their suffering.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mehdi Karroubi</span> Iranian Shia cleric and reformist politician

Mehdi Karroubi is an Iranian Shia cleric and reformist politician leading the National Trust Party. Following 2009–2010 Iranian election protests, Karroubi was put under house arrest in February 2011. As of 2021, he is still confined to his house.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran</span> State of human rights in Iran since 1979

The state of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran has been regarded as very poor. The United Nations General Assembly and the Human Rights Commission have condemned prior and ongoing abuses in Iran in published critiques and several resolutions. The government is criticized both for restrictions and punishments that follow the Islamic Republic's constitution and law, and for "extrajudicial" actions by state actors, such as the torture, rape, and killing of political prisoners, and the beatings and killings of dissidents and other civilians. Capital punishment in Iran remains a matter of international concern.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights in Iran</span>

From the Imperial Pahlavi dynasty, through the Islamic Revolution (1979), to the era of the Islamic Republic of Iran, government treatment of Iranian citizens' rights has been criticized by Iranians, international human rights activists, writers, and NGOs. While the monarchy under the rule of the shahs was widely attacked by most Western watchdog organizations for having an abysmal human rights record, the government of the Islamic Republic which succeeded it is considered still worse by many.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saeed Mortazavi</span> Iranian conservative politician, former judge and former prosecutor

Saeed Mortazavi is an Iranian conservative politician, former judge and former prosecutor. He was the prosecutor of the Islamic Revolutionary Court, and Prosecutor General of Tehran, a position he held from 2003 to 2009. He has been called as "butcher of the press" and a "torturer of Tehran" by some observers. Mortazavi has been accused of the torture and death in custody of Iranian-Canadian photographer Zahra Kazemi by the Canadian government and was named by 2010 Iranian parliamentary report as the man responsible for the abuse of dozens and death of three political prisoners at Kahrizak detention center in 2009. He was put on trial in February 2013 after a parliamentary committee blamed him for the torture and deaths of at least three detainees who participated in the protests against President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's reelection. On 15 November 2014, he was banned from all political and legal positions for life.

Prison rape or jail rape is sexual assault of people while they are incarcerated. The phrase is commonly used to describe rape of inmates by other inmates, or to describe rape of inmates by staff. It is a significant, if controversial, part of what is studied under the wider concept of prison sexuality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 Iranian presidential election protests</span> Protests against the 2009 re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

After incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared victory in the 2009 Iranian presidential election, protests broke out in major cities across Iran in support of opposition candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. The protests continued until 2010, and were titled the Iranian Green Movement by their proponents, reflecting Mousavi's campaign theme, and Persian Awakening, Persian Spring or Green Revolution.

Following the 2009 Iranian presidential election, protests against alleged electoral fraud and in support of opposition candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi occurred in Tehran and other major cities in Iran and around the world starting after the disputed presidential election on 2009 June 12 and continued even after the inauguration of Mahmoud Ahmedinejad as President of Iran on 5 August 2009. This is a timeline of the events which occurred during those protests.

Kahrizak Detention Center is a detainment facility operated by the Judicial system of Iran in Kahrizak, Tehran Province, Iran.

Mohsen Rouholamini was a graduate student in the computer engineering department at the University of Tehran. He died in July 2009 at the Kahrizak detention center following his arrest in connection with protests of the 2009 presidential election in Iran. Rouholamini was the son of Abdolhossein Rouholamini, a prominent Iranian conservative and adviser to presidential candidate Mohsen Rezai.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Death of Ramin Pourandarjani</span>

Ramin Pourandarjani was an Iranian physician who examined prisoners wounded and killed during the 2009 Iranian election protests. Pourandarjani was born on 9 June 1983 to a middle class family in a northwestern district of the city of Tabriz. He died under mysterious circumstances on November 10, 2009, at the age of 26. Tehran's public prosecutor Abbas Dowlatabadi said Ramin Pourandarjani died of poisoning from a delivery salad laced with an overdose of blood pressure medication. The findings fueled opposition fears that he was killed because of what he knew. Pourandarjani had worked as a physician at the Kahrizak detention center. Iranian authorities earlier had claimed at various points that Pourandarjani had been injured in a car accident, committed suicide, or died of a heart attack in his sleep at the health center at the police headquarters in Tehran where he worked.

Mohammad Davari is an Iranian journalist. After he documented abuses of prisoners at Kahrizak detention center, he was sentenced to five years in prison by the Iranian government, drawing international protest on his behalf.

Dissidents have been detained as political prisoners in Saudi Arabia during the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s and earlier. Protests and sit-ins calling for political prisoners to be released took place during the 2011–2012 Saudi Arabian protests in many cities throughout Saudi Arabia, with security forces firing live bullets in the air on 19 August 2012 at a protest at al-Ha'ir Prison. As of 2012, recent estimates of the number of political prisoners in Mabahith prisons range from a denial of any political prisoners at all by the Ministry of Interior, to 30,000 by the UK-based Islamic Human Rights Commission and the BBC.

On July 26, 2010, seventeen prisoners from Ward 350 of Evin prison, Iran, executed a 16-day hunger strike to protest solitary confinement, as well as the poor living conditions within the prison. This included the lack of necessary medical treatment, arbitrary detention, denial of access to legal counsel, suspension of visitation privileges and abuse from prison guards. Subsequent to the hunger strike, authorities placed the seventeen prisoners in solitary confinement in Ward 240, while also prohibiting them from making phone calls, visiting their families, or contacting their lawyers. Overall, the action did not achieve its objectives of improving conditions within the prison or gaining access to legal counsel. However, one of the prisoners on strike, Babak Bordbar, was released for unknown reasons on August 10.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Death of Sina Ghanbari</span>

Sina Ghanbari was a young Iranian protester and consequently a political prisoner. He was arrested by the Iranian Islamic republic government's police during the 2017–2018 Iranian protests and died in the quarantine section of Evin Prison after being transferred there on January 7, 2018.

Hassan Zare Dehnavi, known as Judge Haddad or Hassan Haddad was an Iranian judge and prosecutor. He was the Deputy Prosecutor for Security Affairs of the Tehran Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office of the Iranian Revolutionary Court. He was accused of multiple human rights violations against dissenters of the Iranian regime during his career; according to Radio Farda, he had a long history of human rights abuses, convictions of many political and civil activists, and his violent and illegal treatment of defendants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Execution of Mohammad Mehdi Karami</span> 2023 punishment of an Iranian protestor

Mohammad Mehdi Karami was a 21-year-old Iranian-Kurdish man who was executed by the Islamic Republic of Iran for his involvement in the Mahsa Amini protests. He was convicted of Fisad-e-filarz for allegedly being involved in the killing of a Basij militiaman during protests in Karaj commemorating the 40-day anniversary of Hadis Najafi's death. Karami was executed alongside 39-year-old volunteer children's coach Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini, another man who was also convicted of Fisad-e-filarz for his alleged involvement in the same killing. Both Karami and Hosseini asserted their innocence, and human rights organizations have accused Iranian authorities of using "shoddy evidence" to convict them.

References

  1. ↑ "Iran announce trial dates for detained reformists". AFP. Archived from the original on April 20, 2010. Retrieved November 7, 2009.
  2. ↑ Iran puts 100 protesters on trial. BBC News. August 1, 2009.
  3. ↑ "آغاز دادگاه چهره‌هاي شاخص اصلاح‌طلب". Archived from the original on August 4, 2009. Retrieved August 1, 2009.
  4. ↑ Laura Secor (August 31, 2009). "The Iran Show". The New Yorker . Archived from the original on August 27, 2009. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
  5. 1 2 "Iran defies condemnation, expands opposition trial." By NASSER KARIMI (AP) August 16, 2009 [ dead link ]
  6. 1 2 3 "Iran resumes mass trial of activists, protesters". USA Today. August 8, 2009. Retrieved August 7, 2009.
  7. ↑ "Iran resumes mass trial of activists, protesters". USA Today. August 8, 2009. Retrieved August 7, 2009.
  8. ↑ Ahmadinejad Urges Prosecution of Political Rivals MICHAEL SLACKMAN, August 28, 2009
  9. ↑ Pouladi, Farhad (July 31, 2009). Top Iran reformists on trial after post-election riots. AFP.
  10. ↑ Athanasiadis, Iason (August 2, 2009). Mass trial of Iranian protesters deepens nation's divides. The Christian Science Monitor .
  11. ↑ Worth, Robert; Fathi, Nazila (August 5, 2009). As Ahmadinejad Is Sworn In for 2nd Term, Deep Fissures Are Laid Bare. The New York Times .
  12. 1 2 Iran's rulers put 30 people on trial for opposition 'conspiracy'
  13. ↑ Nazile, Fathi (November 4, 2008). "Arrests of Dissident Iranians Seen as Hard-Line Retaliation". The New York Times. Retrieved May 1, 2008.
  14. ↑ "World Briefing: Iran: Top Prosecutor". The New York Times. May 1, 2003. Retrieved May 1, 2008.
  15. 1 2 Iranian hard-liners target 2 major reform parties. August 26, 2009
  16. ↑ "Prominent Iranian Reformists Go On Trial For Post-Election Unrest". Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. 2009. Archived from the original on August 5, 2009. Retrieved August 1, 2009.
  17. ↑ "Iran sentences three to death over vote unrest". MSNBC. Archived from the original on 12 October 2009. Retrieved October 10, 2009.
  18. ↑ "Iran: 5 Protesters Sentenced to Death". The New York Times. November 18, 2009. Archived from the original on November 10, 2012. Retrieved November 20, 2009.
  19. ↑ Percival, Jenny (November 22, 2009). "Former vice president of Iran sentenced over election protests". The Guardian . London. Archived from the original on 25 November 2009. Retrieved November 29, 2009.
  20. ↑ "Pro-reform party blames Iran's president for abuse" . Retrieved August 13, 2009.[ dead link ]
  21. ↑ Torture claim against Iran trial. August 2, 2009
  22. ↑ James Wray and Ulf Stabe. "Opposition party leader claims sexual abuse in Iranian prisons". Archived from the original on 2009-08-11. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
  23. ↑ [Independent investigation needed into rape and torture in detention in Iran. August 17, 2009]
  24. ↑ "Iran's police chief acknowledges prisoner abuse". Associated Press. Archived from the original on August 12, 2009. Retrieved August 13, 2009.
  25. ↑ "Iran speaker rejects detainee rape claims". CNN. August 13, 2009. Retrieved August 13, 2009.
  26. ↑ "تکان دهنده تر از دروغ - roozonline.com". Archived from the original on August 19, 2009. Retrieved August 16, 2009.
  27. ↑ "Pro-reform party blames Iran's president for abuse". Associated Press. Retrieved August 13, 2009.[ dead link ]
  28. 1 2 3 "Ahmadinejad's Basiji run a regime of rape, murder to suppress critics". The Australian. Archived from the original on December 15, 2012. Retrieved October 4, 2009.
  29. ↑ "Death of an Iran prison doctor raises suspicion". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 23 November 2009. Retrieved November 20, 2009.
  30. ↑ "The Iran Show by Laura Secor. August 31, 2009". The New Yorker . 24 August 2009. Archived from the original on August 27, 2009. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
  31. ↑ Personal Belongings of Zeynab Jalalian Confiscated at Khoy Prison
  32. ↑ "British, French embassy workers on trial over Iran protests". CNN. August 9, 2009. Archived from the original on 9 August 2009. Retrieved August 8, 2009.
  33. ↑ "Clinton says trial shows Iran 'is afraid of its own people'". CNN. August 6, 2009. Retrieved August 6, 2009.
  34. ↑ Presidency statement on the post-election trial in Tehran Swedish Presidency of the EU – August 8, 2009. Accessed August 28, 2009. Archived September 7, 2009.
  35. ↑ "Demonstrators in New York Protest Against Iranian President Ahmadinejad". VOA. September 28, 2009. Archived from the original on September 28, 2009. Retrieved September 28, 2009.
  36. ↑ "Iranians protest in New York ..." Global Post. September 28, 2009. Archived from the original on October 27, 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2009.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.