Widespread Reactions to Televised Confessions

The fourth trial session of political activists and journalists opposed to the election results was met with widespread reactions, which pointed to the amazement of observers over what a real trial looked like.

The Proceeding is not a Trial

Saeed Hajjarian’s attorney, Gholamali Riahi, stepped aside from representing Mosharekat Party member Hajjarian yesterday, after he was notified that Tehran’s prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi has appointed another attorney as Hajjarian’s public defender.  Mr. Riahi has not yet been able to review his client’s case.  Meanwhile, legal scholar and attorney for Ahmad Zeidabadi, Abdollah Momeni and Masoud Bastani, Mohammad Sharif, dismissed the trial as a “sham session” and said that he was not willing to appear in court for it.  He also declared that any judgment coming out of such a trial was not a legal jugement.

Allow Us to Publish Responses in the Press

Mosharekat Party released a statement stating that, “The indictment read in court was against not the detainees but the political parties and associations that have been criticizing the dictators for years.  There are convincing responses to all of the court’s claims, and if the dictators are fair they would allow our responses to be published for the public not after two months in solitary confinement, but in a public environment.” 

Mosharekat Party writes, “One by one and in unity with each other, the members of this party defend their honorable 11-year performances.” 

Mehdi Hashemi and Azad University Issue Denials

Hashemi Rafsanjani’s son, Mehdi Hashemi, denied the allegations against him raised in court.  He was accused in yesterday’s court of using huge sums of public funds to campaign against Ahmadinejad.  In a letter to the head of the state-run radio and television, Hashemi requested that his response be broadcast on television.  He declared in his letter that he never sought to use public funds to finance campaign activities. 

Mehdi Hashemi has said, “These fabricated charges were brought up just after the Hashemi Rafsanjani family’s complaint against Mr. Ahmadinejad – for his televised allegations against them – was submitted to the judiciary.”

The Islamic Azad University also issued a statement denying the claims of two defendants in court yesterday, stating that Azad University funds were not used for campaign purposes for or against any candidate.

Kayhan’s Satisfaction

Meanwhile, the state-run ILNA, close to the Islamic Revolution Passdaran Guards Corps (IRGC), published interviews with figures who called for the summons and punishment of Mehdi Hashemi and Abdollah Jasbi.

Similarly, Kayhan daily, which was extremely satisfied with yesterday’s court proceedings, wrote in its main editorial, “Yesterday’s confessions proved beyond doubt that the post-election protests were led from outside the country.” 

Attacking Mir-Hossein Mousavi, the daily wrote, “The question bothering the public these days is that, why doesn’t the country’s judiciary and security apparatus attack and prosecute the main agents of disturbances?”