Clotilde Reiss
Meanwhile Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani, said yesterday at Friday prayers that the Iranian nation is united and vigilant, this morning the second hearing of the trial against protestors has been held.
Clotilde Reiss, a French 23-year-old teacher (right, from Le Point), is being judged of attempted “velvet revolution”… after she was caught taking photographs with her mobile phone of the riots. Her image during the trial is somewhat different (below, from Al-Jazzeera)
Clotilde Reiss, during 2nd hearing
More information here. Every accusation is just as absolutely unbelievable as that one.
Global Voices has more information about these hearings:
Mohmmad Ali Abtahi, a leading blogger and former reformist vice president, was among dozens to protest the 12th June presidential election's result.
In the court Abtahi, who appeared wearing prisoner’s pyjamas, looked weak and seemed to have lost weight. Abtahi, who had been jailed for several weeks and had no contact with the outside world, said in the court, “I say to all my friends and all friends who hear us, that the issue of fraud in Iran was a lie and was brought up to create riots so Iran becomes like Afghanistan and Iraq and suffers damage and hardship… and if this happened, there would be no name and trace of the revolution left.”
Abtahi has been accused of taking part in a “velvet coup” against regime.
Clearly he is not in a very good shape (left image: before the tribunal; right image: during hearings). His terrified, anguished looks are not very promising.
In the link there are Iranian bloggers quoted, giving their opinion about Abtahi. This site has been launched to ask for his freedom. His family has not even been told why he was arrested.
More photos of the accused in these trials:
Shahabedin Tabatabayi after 50 days in today's court
Ali Tajer Nia after 50 days in today's court
Ahmad Zeyd Abadi after 50 days in today's court
Hedayat Aghayi after 50 days in today's court
More arrested people here.
Iran has also put a UK Embassy employer on trial, causing anger from its Government.
The official Iranian news agency IRNA quoted Rassam, who is charged with espionage, as saying that information was handed over to the Americans. “Because the American government lacks facilities to survey Iran events and because of the close relations between Washington and London, the British embassy in Tehran sent its collected vote unrest details to Washington,” the Reuters news agency reported Rassam as telling the court.
Reuters reported him as apologising to the Iranian nation and that he “asked the court for forgiveness”.
Clotilde Reiss, a French citizen, was charged with “acting against national security by taking part in unrest … collecting news and information and sending pictures of the unrest abroad”, Reuters reported. IRNA said she had confessed her “mistakes” and asked for clemency.
Espionage and acting against national security are punishable by death under Iran’s Islamic law. Iran has accused the west of trying to overthrow the country’s government and encouraging the widespread protests that followed the election in June.
In another related news, seven lawyers who defended the “rioters” were killed to prevent other lawyers to defend them. Two of them died during detention (their families could barely recognise them after the beatings) and five others were sentenced to death and immediately killed on charges of drug possession, charges fabricated “by the regime local authorities”.
In another case detailed to this reporter, a Teheran-based lawyer managed to extricate his brother-in-law – a fellow attorney based in Mashhad – from detention.
“I was able to get him out,” the Teheran lawyer said, “but I am not proud of how I did so. I am sorry to say that I had to turn over all of my files and cases. In addition, I had to sign an agreement not to take on any further cases [of arrested protesters] in the future.”
Last but not least, the judge:
Iranian judge Abul Qasim Salavati attends a hearing for French language teaching assistant Clotilde Reiss and other defendants in a court room in Tehran August 8, 2009.
technorati tags: Iran, #iranelection, Clotilde_Reiss, Abtahi, Shahabedin_Tabatabayi, Ali_Tajer_Nia, Ahmad_Zeyd_Abadi, Hedayat_Aghayi, UK, Rassam, espionage, US, torture, confessions_under_torture, France, Sarkozy
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