The mass trial of a third round of detainees arrested in the aftermath of Iran’s disputed presidential election began on Sunday.
Prosecutors read out charges against more than two dozen detainees who are being tried in the Revolutionary Court. The defendants are among more than 1,000 people arrested after the government cracked down on days of street protests following the June 12 election. Iran’s election authority declared incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the overwhelming winner of the race. Opposition supporters accused the government of fraud. Authorities arrested reformist politicians, lawyers and journalists and accused them of attempting to overturn government leadership. Among the defendants who have been on trial this month are Seyyed Mohammad Abtahi, a former Iranian vice president; Maziar Bahari, an Iranian-Canadian reporter for Newsweek magazine; and Kian Tajbakhsh, an Iranian-American scholar.
