TEHRAN, Iran - The trial of 15 Iranian dissidents charged with plotting to overthrow the Islamic establishment began behind closed doors Tuesday at the hard-line Revolutionary Court in Tehran.
Outside the courthouse, some 20 family members of the defendants staged a sit-in demonstration in below-freezing temperatures to protest the closing of the trial to the public. Narges Mohammadi, the wife of accused activist and writer Taqi Rahmani, called the trial a mockery of justice. ``There is nothing valid about this trial,'' she told reporters. Mohammadi said her husband had been charged with ``apostasy,'' which carries the death sentence in Iran. The defendants are mainly writers, journalists and university professors from the liberal National Religious Alliance. Most were arrested in March for attending a meeting at the home of a prominent political activist, and some were arrested later. If convicted, they could face long prison terms. Six of those being held have been in jail as long as 13 months, some in solitary confinement. Nine others were recently released on bail. Defendants include opposition leaders Habibollah Peyman and Ezatollah Sahabi, and journalist Reza Alijani, who recently won an award from the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders. Iran has been caught up in a power struggle between religious liberals and conservatives that intensified after the 1997 election of the reformist President Mohammad Khatami (news - web sites). The popular president was re-elected last year for another four-year term. Religious hard-liners who control key institutions such as the judiciary have stalled efforts by Khatami to ease religious restrictions and allow more political freedom for Iran's predominantly young population. Since last year, the hard-liners have illegally closed down nearly every liberal publication, jailing and intimidating journalists, academics and activists. They have also jailed legislators who dared to criticize the heavy-handed tactics. The National Religious Alliance, a liberal political group opposed to Iran's hard-line clerics, rejects violence and seeks political reforms within the Islamic establishment. Iranian reformers and international human rights groups have criticized the trial. In a statement ahead of the trial, Reporters Without Borders said it was worried the accused were not getting a strong defense. ``We have full reason to fear that these journalists will not be given a fair trial. To date their advocates have not had access to their clients' files nor even to the indictment,'' the group's general secretary, Robert Menard, said in a written statement Monday. _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com
