The final court session of the case known as "Ekbatan Town" is held
The final court and defense session of the defendants in the "Ekbatan Town" case was held today, Saturday.
According to a report by the Iranian Center for Human Rights, the final defense court session of the defendants in the Ekbatan settlement case was held today, Saturday, November 1, at Branch 13 of the Criminal Court of Tehran Province. In this session, the young defendants must present their final defenses for the charges of murder and intentional assault.
After the nationwide protests began in 1401 (2022), in late February of that year, news of the accusation of Moharebeh against four of the detainees in the so-called Ekbatan Town case spread quickly, and this accusation was not only very serious and dangerous for them, but could also result in a heavy death sentence for them.
After a Basij member was killed in nationwide protests in November 2022, security forces raided the town of Ekbatan and arrested at least 50 young protesters, indicting 14 of them. The Judiciary Spokesperson also described the charges against the detainees, which were dubbed the Ekbatan Town case, as participation in murder and gathering and collusion against national security.
The case of these individuals, Milad Armoon, Alireza Kafaei, Seyyed Mohammad Mehdi Hosseini, Mehdi Imani, Amir Mohammad Khosh-ekhbal, Navid Najjaran, Alireza Barmarzpournak, and Hossein Nemati, who are known as the defendants in the Ekbatan settlement case, was referred from Branch 4 of the Criminal Investigation Department of the 27th District of Tehran to Branch 13 of the Criminal Court for consideration after about 2 years since their arrest.
In May of this year, these prisoners were transferred from Qezl-e-Hesar Prison in Karaj to the IRGC Intelligence Security Unit after the court judge returned the case to the prosecution, declaring a violation of the judicial investigation. After that, 4 other defendants in the case were also transferred to the IRGC Intelligence Security Unit, where they were interrogated without the presence of a lawyer of their choice and outside the judicial rules. In addition, they were deprived of visits and phone calls with their families.
In mid-September of this year, the case of 4 of the defendants in this case was referred back to court from the 27th District Criminal Affairs Prosecutor's Office of Tehran. The authorities investigating this case are Branch 13 of Tehran Criminal Court 1 and Branch 15 of Tehran Revolutionary Court, headed by Judge Salavati.
Finally, today, Saturday, November 1, the final defense session of eight defendants in this case was held. During this session, Milad Armoon, Alireza Kafaei, Amir Mohammad Khosh-e-Ghabbal, Alireza Bermarz Pournak, Seyed Mohammad Mehdi Hosseini, Hossein Nemati, Mehdi Imani, and Navid Najjaran, along with their lawyers, presented their final defenses on the charges of "participation in murder and intentional assault."
