The second session of the "International People's Court of Aban" will be held; letters to 160 defendants to present their defenses in court
Three months after the first session of the International People's Court was held in London in November 2019, the second session of the court is scheduled to be held in London to "determine the nature of the crimes committed" during the November protests in Iran two years ago and to "hold those responsible accountable."
According to the Aban International People's Court's public relations report, the trial is scheduled to be held in private for three days, starting on Friday, February 15, in London, UK, with dozens of new witnesses.
According to information provided to Voice of America, after reviewing documents presented by new witnesses, the prosecution has accused 27 other Islamic Republic officials of crimes against humanity in connection with the suppression of the November 2019 protests, and the information is expected to be made available to the judges in the second round of the trial.
Earlier, Voice of America, which covered the first round of the November People's Court live, reported that the prosecution presented 133 Islamic Republic officials as defendants to the court judges in the first round. Thus, according to the November Public Relations Office of the International People's Court, the number of defendants in this case has increased to 160 officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
It is said that Hamid Sabi and Regina Paulos, two members of the court's prosecution team, have sent separate letters to 160 defendants in the case, asking them to appear in the second session of the court to present their defenses.
On the other hand, according to the Aban International People's Court's public relations report, the list of 160 people prepared was also sent in a letter to Mohsen Baharvand, the Islamic Republic's ambassador to London, on January 18 of this year. In this letter, the prosecution asked the Islamic Republic of Iran official in London to inform the 160 defendants introduced by the prosecution about the charges and their right to defense in court.
The Aban International People's Court was established at the initiative of three organizations: "Justice for Iran", "Iranian Human Rights", and the international organization "Together Against the Death Penalty" in response to the demand of the families of the victims and survivors of the suppression of the nationwide protests of Aban 2019. In the first session of this court, which was held in London from 19 to 23 Aban 1402, 34 eyewitnesses and six experts presented their documents and evidence to the court online and in person, and the testimonies of 131 eyewitnesses were also provided to the judges of this court in writing.
According to the public relations office of the Aban International People's Court, the final verdict of the Aban International People's Court is expected to be announced in late spring 1401.
It is worth noting that during the first round of the November People's Court, one of the influential members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly implicitly confessed to the killing of protesters. Hassan Norouzi said: "I was one of those who shot at the people, we killed them. Now who wants to put us on trial?! The other party set fire to the bank and we killed him. Who do you want to put on trial?"
The website Dideban, which published Norouzi's remarks, later wrote that at the end of his speech, he said, "I was joking," and then hung up.
Source: Voice of America
