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Four More Confessions In Trial For 1998 Iran Assassinations
TEHRAN (AFP) - Four more Iranians confessed Saturday to having a hand in the 1998 assassinations of liberal dissidents which shocked the nation, while a fifth defendant pleaded not guilty.
The four admitted playing a role in the murder of nationalist leader Dariush Foruhar and his wife, who were found stabbed to death in their Tehran apartment, the state IRNA news agency said.
Thirteen of the 18 suspects have now confessed since the Tehran military court began the trial in late December behind closed doors, citing national security concerns.
Two of the men have pleaded innocent, with the remaining three yet to take the stand in the trial, which is set to resume Sunday.
The murder of the Foruhars was followed within weeks by the assassinations of three outspoken writers known for their calls for greater freedom of expression in Islamic Iran.
Two pro-reform journalists, both of whom have since been jailed, have alleged that more senior figures were responsible for the killings, while the courts have warned against any "unauthorized" revelations in the case.
Officials in reformist President Mohammad Khatami's government have acknowledged asking Tehran newspapers to temper criticisms of the court's decision to hold the trial in camera.
Tehran MP Mohammad-Reza Khatami, the president's brother and head of the nation's largest pro-reform party, has called the case a "big test" for the conservative-run judiciary.
The families of the victims are protesting by refusing to attend the trial.
The four who confessed Saturday were named as Mohammad Hossein Asna-Ashr, Ali Safai-Pour, Morteza Fallah and Mostafa Hashemi.
The fifth, who pleaded innocent, Ali-Reza Akbarian, echoed the earlier plea of the only other suspect to deny involvement, saying he had been informed about the murders but played no active role.
Authorities in January 1999 announced that a network of "rogue" secret agents had carried out the murders but had done so without the knowledge of their superiors in the intelligence ministry.
The intelligence agent named as the mastermind behind the killings, Said Emami, was reported to have committed suicide in prison by drinking a bottle of hair remover.
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