TEHRAN: The trial began on Saturday of 16 opposition protesters charged over unrest connected with Iran’s disputed June presidential election, as the Revolutionary Guards warning against further demonstrations.
Five defendants are charged with the capital offense of “moharebeh” (waging war against God) while the remainder are accused of public order and national security offenses, a court website said.
All of the accused were arrested after eight people were killed in clashes between opposition supporters and security forces on Ashura on Dec. 27. The date coincided with the seventh day of mourning for leading dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Saturday warned opposition groups not to stage protests on Feb. 11, the anniversary of the 1979 revolution that created the Islamic republic. Opposition websites have been urging people to stage more anti-government rallies on the day.
Widespread protests after the June 2009 election plunged Iran into its deepest internal crisis since the overthrow of the Shah in 1979.
“Under no conditions will we let the ‘green movement’ show up ... if a minority wants to do something, it will be firmly confronted by us,” Brig. Gen. Hossein Hamedani, commander of Tehran Revolutionary Guards, was quoted as saying by the semi-official student news agency ISNA.
Green was the color adopted by the supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi, who unsuccessfully challenged hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the June 2009 presidential election. It was later taken up by the wider opposition movement.
On Saturday former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who heads the state Expediency Council, said rallies on Feb. 11 should be peaceful.
“All groups and parties in Iran must try to make sure that the rallies marking the anniversary of the victory of the Islamic revolution in Iran on Feb. 11 are held with calm and grandeur,” he said, according to news agency ILNA. “Any confrontation and violence will be in line with what the enemies want.”
ISNA quoted the deputy Tehran prosecutor as saying that of the 16, one was a member of the outlawed Bahai faith, one was a communist and some belonged to the “counterrevolutionary” Mojahedin Khalq Organization.
Semi-official Fars news agency reported an additional 150 people had been detained over the Ashura unrest, taking the total number of opposition protesters arrested in the aftermath of the Dec. 27 protest to more than 450, according to officials.
On Thursday Iran hanged two men convicted of moharebeh in connection with the unrest.
Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi — who also contested the election — condemned the hangings, saying the men had been arrested before the vote, and called for protests on Feb. 11, website Sahamnews said.
“It seems that the purpose of such an action was to intimidate people so they will stay away from Feb. 11 rallies,” the site quoted them as saying in a statement.
Fars said security forces had obtained footage and photographs from people detained which would help the identification and arrests of “a large number of additional rioters.”
