The fourth session of the trial of nearly 140 individuals, including former government officials, journalists, academics and protestors accused of orchestrating the unrest after the presidential election was held Tuesday. Local TV footage from the trial showed the defendants, who appeared in the court in their pajamas and plastic slippers, repentant during the court session.

The Tehran prosecutor general reiterated allegations that reformists and civil-society activists worked with Western organizations to weaken the government through a “soft coup” or a “velvet” revolution of the kind that swept away authoritarian regimes in Eastern Europe.
Tehran Public Revolutionary prosecutor called for the dissolution of the two largest reform parties, including Islamic Revolution Mojahedin Organization (IRMO) and Islamic Republic Participation Front (IRPF). The prosecutor laid charges of “lying” and spreading “rumors of fraud in the election,” on the two parties.
All of the defendants expressed resentment over their protests and many accepted foreign interference during the post-election riots.
The opposition reform parties issued a statement on Tuesday asking people not to believe in these confessions saying what was said by the defendants was not by their will.
Meanwhile, Mehr News agency reported that Mostafa Kavakebian (MP from Semnan Province) told Majlis Speaker Larijani after an open session on Wednesday that based on article 168 of the constitution the trial of any political figures should be held in the presence of a jury. A suggestion that Larijani has welcomed. Presently the trial is proceeding without a jury present. In the previous hearings the government did not present evidence and no defense was offered.
The trial
Because of his disability Saeed Hajjarian had asked fellow journalist Saeed Shariati to read his statement. Hajjarian could not read it himself because he was left disabled and had trouble speaking after being shot in the head in an assassination attempt in 2000.
Shariati said that Hajjarian expressed regret at the unrest that had followed the election, “events that caused pain in the hearts of all of those who care about the destiny of the country.”
The prosecutor, who sought maximum penalty, alleged that Hajjarian had “relations with foreign elements” against the security of the country, inciting the youth and students to act against election, “committing character assassination of the legal government through speeches and in writings, cooperating with the BBC….”
Hajjarian is also accused of having had contact with an alleged British spy, and German philosopher Jurgen Habermass.
Social Scientist Kian Tajbakhsh, charged with espionage and acting against the national security, said in his defense statement that former president Mohammad Khattami and Mohammed Javad Zarif, the then Iranian envoy to the UN, met with George Soros in 2006.
Tajbakhsh added that Khatami had been in touch with the Soros Foundation since then and that the meeting was part of a plan to overthrow the system.
The next day Khatami’s office issued a statement denouncing the claim as “invalid” and the confession was “obtained in special circumstances”, reported ILNA.
Another defendant, Hamzeh Karimi, implicated Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani’s son Mehdi Hashemi for laundering government funds. He told the court about the $2 million of the Iranian Fuel Conservation Organization’s assets were used to finance Rafsanjani’s presidential campaign. Karami claimed that he started working in the organization in 2003 with the recommendation of Mohammed Hashemi, the brother of the two-time president.
Karimi added that at that time Mehdi Hashemi was the managing director of IFCO and accused him of setting up the “forgery and document falsification” and money laundering.
Mehdi Hashemi told Tabnak that the allegations were baseless and revealed that his family had lodged a complaint against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The junior Rafsanjani also called on the Judiciary to investigate the hundreds of millions of dollars which went missing when Mr. Ahmadinejad was Tehran mayor.
Another defendant present Tuesday was the Editor-in-Chief of Ettemad-e Melli, Mohammed Ghouchani. After the trial Mr. Ghouchani’s wife, Maryam Bagheri, sent an open letter to the new Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani asking him to release her husband.
In her letter she claimed that the bail for Mr. Ghouchani was posted two days before the trial (August 23, Shahrivar 1) and based on the Iranian law he should be released. Mrs. Bagheri further objected to the fact that her husband, who was arrested on June 19, still doesn’t have legal representative.
In her letter to Mr. Larijani she added that she was not informed prior to the trial if her husband will be among the defendants on Tuesday. She found out about her husband’s presence through news media hours before the trial.
After court session
The Mehr News Agency reported on Wednesday that after the trial there was a public news conference with the presence of three defendants, including Saeed Shariati, Hedayat-e Aqai and Kian Tajbakhsh.
Aqai, a member of Servants of Construction Party, stated that in the future the reformist leaders and activists will be screened. When asked about the reaction of fellow reformists on his confession he added: “I’ve been detained for the last 70 days and have no news from the outside world. However, I think my fellow reformists will think about my confession.”
One reporter asked Tajbakhsh if he had confessed under pressure or influence of drugs, he said: “The investigation was legal and fair, and what I have said was from my free will.”
Another defendant who was questioned by the reporters after the trial was Abdullah Ramezanzadeh, IIIP member and former government spokesman. “I disagree with the indictment read by the deputy prosecutor because our objections are not fundamentally against the Islamic Republic system. Our objectives were aimed at some executive decisions made by the 9th administration,” quoted Mehr News Agency.
Press reaction
The day following the trial Kayhan’s editorial titled “Curtains Fall” claimed that the confessions of the well-known reformist leaders shows foreign conspiracy involvement. The editorial went on to say that the idea of a “velvet” revolution dates back 10 years from 18 of Tir student riots. “The reformist theoreticians tried to compare Iranian government with the Soviet Union” and believed the same type of rebellion can be effective here.
The editorial went on say that the reformist parties urged BBC to support Mousavi’s campaign indirectly. “Today, the question in the minds of the people is why the Judiciary does not take steps to arrest and prosecute the main elements behind the unrest?”
Meanwhile, before the Friday prayer sermons, which is an important platform for delivering political messages to the masses, President Ahmedinejad called for the prosecution of masterminds asking authorities to “deal seriously with the main elements behind the post-election incidents.”
On Wednesday the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Syed Ali Khamenei had a meeting with a group of university students. In the meeting he stated: “I don’t accuse the leaders of the recent unrest of being affiliated with foreign countries,” he said and added that the issue is not proven to him.
However, he added that “there is no doubt that the events were planned, no matter whether the (reformist) leaders knew it or not.”
The trial on Tuesday was rescheduled from the previous week because the lawyers of the defendants asked the authorities for postponement due to lack of preparation on behalf of the defendants. There will be more sessions in the future. The next trial date has to be announced by the authorities. The twists and turns and the length of this legal procedure will only be determined with time.