By Jenny Booth
Iran has called for the death penalty on former government ministers who were today put on trial for allegedly orchestrating pro-democracy protests.
One of the first in the dock in today's mass hearing was Saeed Hajjarian, a former deputy intelligence minister who is opposed to the hardine regime of President Ahmadinejad.
Mr Hajjarian is accused of acting against Iran's national security - a crime punishable by death.
“Hajjarian is charged with acting against national security and propaganda against the Islamic establishment by spreading suspicion of vote-rigging ... and provoking illegal protests,” Iran's official IRNA news agency reported from the trial.
“The prosecutor ... called for maximum punishment for Hajjarian considering the importance of the case.”
A roll call of other once senior politicians from the moderate 1997-2005 presidency of Mohammad Khatami, who backed opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi in the recent election, were also facing the prospect of similar penalties in the Revolutionary Court.
Sitting in rows in prison clothes and slippers in the courtroom today were a former deputy interior minister, a former deputy foreign minister, a once government spokesman, a former economy minister and an ex-mines and industry minister, all to be seen silently listening to the charges read out by a prosecutor, in images broadcast on Iranian state television. A newspaper editor was also on trial. Read more here ...
Iran has called for the death penalty on former government ministers who were today put on trial for allegedly orchestrating pro-democracy protests.
One of the first in the dock in today's mass hearing was Saeed Hajjarian, a former deputy intelligence minister who is opposed to the hardine regime of President Ahmadinejad.
Mr Hajjarian is accused of acting against Iran's national security - a crime punishable by death.
“Hajjarian is charged with acting against national security and propaganda against the Islamic establishment by spreading suspicion of vote-rigging ... and provoking illegal protests,” Iran's official IRNA news agency reported from the trial.
“The prosecutor ... called for maximum punishment for Hajjarian considering the importance of the case.”
A roll call of other once senior politicians from the moderate 1997-2005 presidency of Mohammad Khatami, who backed opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi in the recent election, were also facing the prospect of similar penalties in the Revolutionary Court.
Sitting in rows in prison clothes and slippers in the courtroom today were a former deputy interior minister, a former deputy foreign minister, a once government spokesman, a former economy minister and an ex-mines and industry minister, all to be seen silently listening to the charges read out by a prosecutor, in images broadcast on Iranian state television. A newspaper editor was also on trial. Read more here ...
Source: Times Online
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