Many of Mohammad Khatami's ministers were on trial yesterday in Tehran, so it's not surprising that the former president weighed in on the trials today. Khatami said detainees have confessed under "extraordinary conditions" and their confessions should not be allowed in court.
One of those detainees is Saeed Hajjarian, the reformist (and former Khatami aide) who is disabled because of a 2000 assassination attempt (carried out by hard-liners). The regime has accused him of being the "brains" behind the post-election unrest; prosecutors have called for his execution.
Despite his paralysis -- and promises to release him -- the regime moved ahead with Hajjarian's trial yesterday. The goal seems to be publicly humiliating and breaking him.
At Tuesday's trial, the fourth since June polls denounced by moderates as fraudulent, senior reformer and Khatami ally Saeed Hajjarian was reported as saying he had "made major mistakes during the election by presenting incorrect analyses."
"I apologise to the Iranian nation for those mistakes."
I'll refer you once again to Laura Secor's smart New Yorker piece on why these show trials have been so ineffective at intimidating the public.
Meanwhile, Tehran Bureau reports that the Norooz News Web site published information about unnamed graves in Tehran's Behesht-e Zahra cemetery that allegedly hold dozens of demonstrators killed after the election.
The regime insists no such "mass burial" ever took place.
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Categories: Iran, Iranian Elections (2009), Politics, Regional News
Tags: Behesht-e Zahra cemetery, Laura Secor, Mohammad Khatami, Saeed Hajjarian, show trials, Tehran Bureau
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