TehranPlaris to E , cute 3 Protesters of Election- NYTines.com ltp://www ,r tlmes.coni'2OO9/lO/l l/world/nflddleeast/l liranltml?pag...
1je Xcw jork mcs
PRINTER-FRIENDLY FORMAT
SF0 NSDREO E:
• •. NOW PLhYING
rN 5ELE(T TUEMH&S.
October 11, 2009
Tehran Plans to Execute 3 Protesters of Election
By MICHAEL SLACKMAN
CAIRO — Iranian officials have sentenced to death three protesters who participated in demonstrations
following the nation's disputed presidential election in June, according to ISNA, Iran's semiofficial news
agency.
The news service quoted an unnamed spokesman for the Tehran prosecutor's office saying that the three
were sentenced to be hanged and that they had been part of what Iran considered terrorist organizations.
The death sentences are the first to be made public in cases involving the hundreds charged in the vast
protests that followed the government's declaration of a landslide victory for the incumbent, Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad , in the June 12 presidential election.
Reform-aligned Web sites reported last week that a prisoner named Mohammad-Reza Ali-Zamani had
received a death sentence. The announcement on Saturday, which said a man with the initials M. Z. would
be put to death, appears to confirm that sentence and report two others.
According to the report Saturday, two of the protesters were members of the Kingdom Assembly of Iran, a
group that wants to restore the monarchy.
The third, identified as N. A., was said to be a member of People's Mujahedeen of Iran, an exile group that
Iran says works to overthrow the government.
The news of death sentences sparked immediate condemnation from international human rights groups. In
the weeks after the election, millions of Iranians marched in the streets of Tehran, charging that Mr.
Ahmadinejad stole the race. At least 30 people were killed in a government crackdown that quelled the
protests but failed to end the simmering discontent.
“Zamani's trial was a mockery of justice,” the executive director of Amnesty International USA, Larry Cox,
said in a statement. “To impose the death sentence is beyond deplorable. Iran should immediately rescind
this sentence.”
The ISNA report, without giving details, said the court also sentenced i8 other protesters. That raised
concerns about the hundreds ofjournalists, former government officials, academics and protesters still held
in prison, many incommunicado, said the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran , a group based
in the United States.
There have been many charges of protesters' being tortured while in prison, and the government has agreed
that some prisoners were abused, although it has continued to dispute accusations that some were raped
11/2/2009 11:58 AM
This copy is for your personal, noncommercial use only. You can order presentation-ready
copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers here or use the ‘Reprints” tool
that appears next to any article. Visit www.nytreprints.com for samples and additional
information. Order a reprint of this article now.
1 of 2
TehranPlaris to E , cute 3 Protesters of Election- NYTines,com lttp://www ,r tlmes ,coni'2OO9/lO/l l/world/nflddleeast/l liranltml?pag,..
and sodomized.
“Iranian authorities have released little or no information about many of the approximately 400 persons
who remain detained,” the human rights campaign said in a statement, adding that Iran was “violating
international standards for due process and raising deep concerns about their health and safety.”
Among those who remain in detention are Maziar Bahari , a filmmaker and reporter for Newsweek , and
Shapur Kazemi, the brother-in-law of Mir Hussein Moussavi , who the opposition claims won the election.
Mr. Kazemi, 62, is a respected telecommunications engineer and is known for his activities in technical and
economic fields rather than for political activism.
Others who are still being held include the former vice president, Mohammad Ali Abtahi; Muhammad
Atrianfar, a publisher and confidant of the former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani ; Mostafa
Tajzadeh, a deputy interior minister in the reformist government of the former president Mohammad
Khatami ; Saeed Leylaz, an economist and former government official; and the journalist Isa Saharkhiz, who
according to Iranian news reports suffered broken ribs during interrogation.
Student activists being held include Abdullah Momeni , a former spokesman for the student group Iran
Alumni Association, who confessed in court. Mr. Momeni's wife says he had been badly tortured, according
to Iranian news reports.
Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Privacy Policy Terms of Service Corrections RSS First Look Contact Us Work for Us Site Map
2of2 11/2/2009 11:58AM
