Iran indicts alleged murderers of dissidents
TEHRAN, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Iran's judiciary has indicted 18 people,
including senior intelligence officials, on charges of murdering dissidents,
newspapers reported on Tuesday.
The accused are to stand trial in a military court for the murder of
four dissident intellectuals in 1998, the daily Hayat-e No quoted a senior
judiciary official as saying. Other newspapers carried similar reports.
A key suspect, former deputy intelligence minister Saeed Emami, died
while in custody last year, reportedly a suicide.
Pro-democracy activists say a wave of politically-motivated murders
masterminded by ``rogue'' agents in the security services left more than
80 people dead over the past decade.
They have protested at the decision to limit the investigation to only
four murder cases. Some also link the murders to senior figures in the
establishment.
Akbar Ganji and Emadeddin Baqi, two reformist journalists who were
investigating the murders and the purported links between the killers and
establishment officials, have been imprisoned.
Pro-reform newspapers which called for full investigations have also
been closed down by hardliners who dominate the judiciary.
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