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Iranian Trial Pitches Reformists And Reformists Against One Another
CAIRO (IslamOnline) - A milestone closed-door trial of suspected secret service agents accused of a serial of murders in Iran saw its second hearing on Monday amid charges of a major cover-up and protests by the victims' families.
The online service of the Iranian News Agency (IRNA) reported Monday that families of four victims assassinated in 1998 boycotted the landmark trial and had dismissed their lawyers.
The families say authorities are involved in a cover-up because the trial would involve high-ranking Iranian officials who may have ordered the killings. They also said the investigations contain irregularities and omitted evidence.
Seventeen men are accused of a series of killings that targeted Iranian dissident writers and intellectuals two years ago. News agencies report that reformists say the serial murders claimed some 80 victims in over a decade of violence.
Reformist pressure on the government has been credited for bringing the case to trial.
The trial is widely hailed as a historic success for Iran's reformist camp, led by President Mohammed Khatemi, and is seen as a major factor in an ongoing struggle between hardliners and the reformists within the clerical system of the Muslim Persian state.
IRNA said a military court in the center of Tehran, presided over by Judge Mohammed-Reza Aqiqi, ordered on Saturday the arrest of three more suspects accused of assassinating dissidents.
Fariborz Rais-Dana, a member of the committee to defend victims of the serial murders, was reported by IRNA as saying that he understood the reason behind why victims’ families dismissed their lawyers.
"The families of the victims have realized that the deficiencies within the dossiers have not been removed."
He noted that the court intends to restrict the trial to only victims and three defendants. "The families of the victims call for justice, ensuring national security and true freedom," he added.
Nationalist political activist Dariush Forouhar and his wife, Parvaneh, were assassinated at their residence in late 1998. Three other writers - Majid Sharif, Mohammad Mokhtari and Mohammad Pouyandeh - were also later killed.
Although the trial started only after heavy pressure from Khatemi and the reformist camp to pursue the matter, other reformists say the trial falls short of their expectations. Many had wanted an open trial.
Many also complain that judicial authorities have banned any news or first-hand reporting on the trial.
In addition, a Justice Ministry official was quoted by IRNA as warning that "anyone making speculations or revelations about the serial killings, or people, will be prosecuted."
And the Justice Ministry has already made good on its warning. Dissident Iranian journalist Akbar Ganji had implicated former intelligence minister Ali Fallahian and a senior judge, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, as involved in the serial murders. Both men deny the allegations.
For his part, Ghani was later arrested and now faces trial for threatening national security.
Evidence that Iran's hardline camp was resisting the procedure of the trial came two weeks ago when Nasser Zarafshan, a lawyer for the families of Mohammad Mokhtari and Mohammad Pouyandeh, two of the victims, was arrested and then released on bail three days later.
“We believe there is a strong political will that wants to cover up the reality of the crimes. This has been the case over the past two years,” the Abrar-e Eqtesadi newspaper quoted Siavash Mokhtari, son of murdered writer Mohammad Mokhtari, as saying.
Reformist parliamentarians say they fear the full truth about the murders may never be known and have threatened to launch their own probe into the case. They say they want the investigation to get to the root of the scandal no matter how high, or far back, the arrests may go.
Further hearings in the trail have been set for December 30th.
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