Environmentalists' Court Session Held 'Only with Trusted Lawyers'

A court session for eight environmental activists accused by the judiciary of 'spying on Iran's military centers' was held early Wednesday. This session was presided over by Judge Salavati in Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court. Fars News Agency reports that the appointed lawyers of the defendants were present, and part of the indictment was read in this 'closed' session. Meanwhile, Mohammad Hossein Aghasi, the lawyer for detained activist Sam Rajabi, criticized in an interview with Radio Farda that he was not invited to this session, stating that only the judiciary's trusted lawyers attended. Aghasi also mentioned that the families of the defendants were unaware of the court session until today and only knew that the court had summoned the defendants without any clear reason. On January 23 of last year, Morad Tahbaz, Hooman Jokar, Sepideh Kashani, Niloufar Bayani, Sam Rajabi, Taher Ghaderian, Amir Hossein Khaleqi, and Abdolreza Kouhpayeh were arrested by the IRGC Intelligence Organization. These individuals have been in 'temporary detention' for over a year. Kavous Seyed Emami, another detainee in this case, died in prison two weeks after his arrest. Four of the eight detainees face serious charges of corruption on earth, while the others are charged with espionage. Despite the Ministry of Intelligence's clear statement that these individuals are not spies, the judiciary continues to uphold espionage charges against them. Reports have previously indicated 'pressure' from the Revolutionary Court on some environmental activists to change their defense lawyers. Several months ago, the Islamic Republic's judiciary announced a list of 'approved lawyers' to the prosecutors, according to which defendants in political and security cases can only choose lawyers from this list. The issuance of this list has faced backlash from many independent lawyers, but it seems that the judiciary is still insisting on its implementation regarding the environmental activists' trial process. On November 21 of this year, over a thousand specialists and environmental advocates testified in a letter to Sadegh Larijani, the head of the judiciary, that the detained environmental activists in Iran had 'no suspicious activities' and had protected the country's nature 'within the law, without pay and favor.' The Hamshahri newspaper also reported in December that 72 professors, specialists, and environmental activists requested permission from the Tehran governorate to hold a rally in support of the imprisoned environmental activists. Previously, the families of these eight individuals had written a letter to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, requesting access to 'lawyers and fair trial conditions.' Meanwhile, the Iranian judiciary continues to insist that the detainees are 'agents of enemy infiltration' and that 'complete evidence of their infiltration exists'; however, this 'evidence' has not yet been presented.