Kangaroo Court

Today, Iran held trials for numerous individuals involved in protests after the recent Presidential elections. Those arrested include civillians active in the post-elections protests and prominent pro-reform politicians, indicating that anyone who opposes the government is not safe. No verdicts or sentences have been given yet, but the details and allegations from the trials that have already come out show that this is clearly no court of law.

The fifteen page indicment alleges that the defendants attacked government forces and buildings, have links to armed rebel groups, and conspired against the ruling system. More accusations allege that the groups that the pro-reform politicians represent took money from foreign entities (read: the West) in a year long plot to bring about a velvet revolution. Nevermind that the pro-reform parties might have real interests in changing the course of Iranian politics, they were clearly trying to overthrow the government by engaging in a peaceful, democratic elections process.

The gut check here is disgusting. Ahmadinejad's regime calls this a trial, but it's clearly all for show. The defendants weren't allowed access to lawyers. There are allegations that some were tortured to obtain false confessions. These people are being put on trial for what amounts to treason because Ahmadinejad's regime couldn't handle people questioning their legitimacy. Instead of addressing the questions of legitimacy with openness, they decided to kill a bunch of people, throw some more in jail and torture them. Now they're trying to politically manipulate the situation by having a "trial"? Don't think that this is a trial, or even a court of law, not for one second.