2009 Iran poll protests trial
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2009 Iran poll protests trial refers to a series of trials conducted after
2009 Iranian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Iran on 12 June 2009, with incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad running against three challengers. The next morning the Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran's news agency, announced that with two-thirds of the votes co ...
. Over 140 defendants, including prominent politicians, academics and writers, were put on trial for participating in the
2009 Iranian election protests 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 con ...
. The defendants were accused of orchestrating "colour revolution" in Iran, and "exposing cases of violations of human rights." The trials were widely condemned by world leaders both in Iran and worldwide as a "
show trial A show trial is a public trial in which the judicial authorities have already determined the guilt or innocence of the defendant. The actual trial has as its only goal the presentation of both the accusation and the verdict to the public so th ...
" with coerced confessions.


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 Mohammad-Ali Abtahi ( fa, محمدعلی ابطحی; born January 27, 1958) is an Iranian theologian, scholar, pro-democracy activist and chairman of the Institute for Interreligious Dialogue. He is a former Vice President of Iran and a close a ...
, former government spokesman
Abdollah Ramezanzadeh Abdollah Ramezanzadeh ( fa, عبدالله رمضان‌زاده) is an Iranian academic, writer and politician. An ethnic Kurdish, he is the former spokesman and secretary of the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran during the presidency o ...
, former Deputy Speaker of the Parliament and Industry Minister
Behzad Nabavi Behzad Nabavi ( fa, بهزاد نبوی) (born 1941) is an Iranian reformist politician. He served as Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Iran and was one of the founders of the reformist party Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization. Pr ...
, reformist lawmaker Ali Tajernia, Shahaboddin Tabatabaei, journalist
Ahmad Zeidabadi Ahmad Zeidabadi fa, احمد زیدابادی (born 21 July 1965 in Zeidabad, Sirjan) is an Iranian journalist, academic, writer and political analyst and the secretary general of Office for Strengthening Unity. He is one of the notable figures ...
, 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 ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
correspondent
Maziar Bahari Maziar Bahari ( fa, مازیار بهاری; born May 25, 1967) is an Iranian-Canadian journalist, filmmaker and human rights activist. He was a reporter for ''Newsweek'' from 1998 to 2011. Bahari was incarcerated by the Iranian government from Ju ...
, and French academic Clotilde Reiss. On August 16, 25 more defendants were added to the trial."Iran defies condemnation, expands opposition trial." By NASSER KARIMI (AP) August 16, 2009
/ref> 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. 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 Mir-Hossein Mousavi Khameneh ( fa, میرحسین موسوی خامنه, Mīr-Hoseyn Mūsavī Khāmené, ; born 2 March 1942) is an Iranian reformist politician, artist and architect who served as the forty-ninth and last Prime Minister of Ir ...
,
Mehdi Karroubi Mehdi Karroubi ( fa, مهدی کروبی, Mehdi Karrubi, born 26 September 1937) is an Iranian Shia cleric and Iranian reform movement, reformist politician leading the National Trust Party (Iran), National Trust Party. Following 2009–2010 Iran ...
,
Mohammad Khatami Sayyid Mohammad Khatami ( fa, سید محمد خاتمی, ; born 14 October 1943) is an Iranian politician who served as the fifth president of Iran from 3 August 1997 to 3 August 2005. He also served as Iran's Minister of Culture from 1982 to ...
, and
Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani ( fa, اکبر هاشمی رفسنجانی, Akbar Hāshemī Rafsanjānī, born Akbar Hashemi Bahramani, 25 August 1934 – 8 January 2017) was an Iranian politician, writer, and one of the founding fathers of the Islami ...
.


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. In a press conference shown on state television several of the defendants – Abtahi, Kian Tajbakhsh,
Maziar Bahari Maziar Bahari ( fa, مازیار بهاری; born May 25, 1967) is an Iranian-Canadian journalist, filmmaker and human rights activist. He was a reporter for ''Newsweek'' from 1998 to 2011. Bahari was incarcerated by the Iranian government from Ju ...
– 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," Prosecutors have warned against questioning the legitimacy of the trial, threatening to prosecute doubters. 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.


Prosecution

The prosecution is led by
Saeed Mortazavi Saeed Mortazavi ( fa, سعید مرتضوی, born 26 November 1967) is an Iranian Iranian Principlists, conservative politician, former judge and former prosecutor. He was prosecutor of the Islamic Revolutionary Court, and Prosecutor General of T ...
, the Prosecutor General of
Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
, who has been called a "hardliner" for his role in the death of Iranian-Canadian photojournalist
Zahra Kazemi Zahra "Ziba" Kazemi-Ahmadabadi ( fa, زهرا کاظمی احمدآبادی; 1948 – 11 July 2003) was an Iranian-Canadian freelance photojournalist. She gained notoriety for her arrest in Iran and the circumstances in which she was held by I ...
, and the shutting down of 60 pro-reform newspapers. The sentences for the charges range from a short imprisonment to capital punishment.Iran's rulers put 30 people on trial for opposition 'conspiracy'
/ref>


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."Iranian hard-liners target 2 major reform parties. August 26, 2009
/ref> Saleh Nikbakht, who represents some of the most prominent defendants, has complained of being sidelined from the trial. He told
Radio Farda Radio Farda ( fa, راديو فردا, lit=Radio Tomorrow, ''Radio Farda'') is the Iranian branch of the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) external broadcast service for providing "factual, objective and profession ...
"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."
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 Sadeq Ardeshir Larijani ( fa, صادق اردشیر لاریجانی; born 12 March 1961), better known as Amoli Larijani ( fa, آملی لاریجانی), is an Iranian scholar, conservative politician, and current chairman of Expediency Discern ...
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."


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 Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. ...
group and a third was convicted for his alleged ties to a terrorist group and for links to the
People's Mujahedin of Iran The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), also known as Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) or Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) ( fa, سازمان مجاهدين خلق ايران, sâzmân-e mojâhedīn-e khalq-e īrân), is an Iranian pol ...
. The other two were convicted of ties to armed opposition groups. Iran's former vice president
Mohammad Ali Abtahi Mohammad-Ali Abtahi ( fa, محمدعلی ابطحی; born January 27, 1958) is an Iranian theologian, scholar, pro-democracy activist and chairman of the Institute for Interreligious Dialogue. He is a former Vice President of Iran and a close a ...
was sentenced to six years in prison for taking part in the protests.


Prisoner abuse

Opposition leaders have claimed that the prisoners have been tortured and
raped in prison Prison rape or jail rape refers to 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. China In February 2021, BBC News repo ...
. UN human rights experts, opposition leaders, and world leaders condemned the abuse, which has been compared to Iraq's
Abu Ghraib prison Abu Ghraib prison ( ar, سجن أبو غريب, ''Sijn Abū Ghurayb'') was a prison complex in Abu Ghraib, Iraq, located west of Baghdad. Abu Ghraib prison was opened in the 1950s and served as a maximum-security prison with torture, weekly exe ...
. Former Prime Minister and presidential candidate
Mir Hossein Mousavi ''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...
has called the treatment of prisoners on trial "medieval torture". Former chairman of Iranian parliament
Mehdi Karroubi Mehdi Karroubi ( fa, مهدی کروبی, Mehdi Karrubi, born 26 September 1937) is an Iranian Shia cleric and Iranian reform movement, reformist politician leading the National Trust Party (Iran), National Trust Party. Following 2009–2010 Iran ...
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 The Assembly of Experts ( fa, مجلس خبرگان رهبری, majles-e khobregân-e rahbari), also translated as the Assembly of Experts of the Leadership or as the Council of Experts, is the deliberative body empowered to appoint the Supreme ...
he asked the head of the assembly to investigate abuses.
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
's secretary general has also called for an investigation into allegations of torture and rape in detention. Iran's police chief, Gen. Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam, acknowledged that the prisoners had been abused and raped.
Ali Larijani Ali Ardeshir Larijani ( fa, علی لاریجانی, ; born 3 June 1957) is an Iranian conservative politician, philosopher and former military officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who served as the Speaker of the Parliament of Iran ...
, Iran's parliament speaker, has denied that prisoners were abused. 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. 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. 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. 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. The mysterious death of an Iranian prison doctor on November 10, 2009, continued to raise suspicions. The doctor, Dr.
Ramin Pourandarjani Ramin Pourandarjani (9 June 1983 – 10 November 2009) 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 di ...
, 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 Mohsen Rouholamini ( fa, محسن روح‌الامینی ;20 May 1984 – July 2009) 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 ar ...
, 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. 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. 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 The Moscow trials were a series of show trials held by the Soviet Union between 1936 and 1938 at the instigation of Joseph Stalin. They were nominally directed against "Trotskyists" and members of "Right Opposition" of the Communist Party of the ...
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. On November 28, 2018 guards in
Khoy Khoy (Persian and az, خوی; ; ; also Romanized as Khoi), is a city and capital of Khoy County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran. At the 2012 census, its population was 200,985. Khoy is located north of the province's capital and largest city ...
female prison, north west of Iran attacked inmate
Zeynab Jalalian Zeynab Jalalian ( fa, زينب جلاليان; born March 10, 1982 in Dim Qeshlaq, Maku County) is a Kurdish Iranian who has been convicted a mohareb and sentenced to death by an Islamic Revolutionary Court for allegedly being a member of the Kurdi ...
and confiscated all her belongings. She was arrested in February 2007.


International response

Human rights activists and Iranian intellectuals wrote a letter to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,
Navanethem Pillay Navanethem "Navi" Pillay (born 23 September 1941) is a South Africa, South African jurist who served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014. A South African of Indian people, Indian Tamils, Tamil origin, she wa ...
calling the trials "crimes against humanity." U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
called the trials a "sign of weakness" and that it shows Iran "is afraid of its own people" in an interview with
CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...
. British Foreign Secretary
David Miliband David Wright Miliband (born 15 July 1965) is the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the International Rescue Committee and a former British Labour Party politician. He was the Foreign Secretary from 2007 to 2010 and the Member of P ...
condemned the trial and said that accusing British Embassy staff of stoking the unrest "only brings further discredit to the Iranian regime." The Swedish
Presidency of the European Union The official title President of the European Union (or President of Europe) does not exist, but there are a number of presidents of European Union institutions, including: * the President of the European Council (since 1 December 2019, Charle ...
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." On September 24, 2009, demonstrators from around the world gathered in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
to protest against Ahmadinejad's speech to world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly.


See also

*
2009 Iranian election protests 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 con ...
* Hovyiat (TV series) *
Show trial A show trial is a public trial in which the judicial authorities have already determined the guilt or innocence of the defendant. The actual trial has as its only goal the presentation of both the accusation and the verdict to the public so th ...


References


Further reading

* Yahya R. Kamalipour, ed. ''Media, Power, and Politics in the Digital Age: The 2009 Presidential Election Uprising in Iran'' (Rowman & Littlefield; 2010) 314 pages


External links


The Confession: Ebrahim Nabavi :: Mohammad Ali Abtahi
{{Iranian presidential election, 2009 footer Iran poll protests trial Poll protests trial Crime in Iran 2009 Iranian presidential election protests Trials of political people