TEHRAN, Aug. 8 — A second group of dissidents, demonstrators and embassy workers appeared in court Saturday as prosecutors pressed their case against opposition members accused of plotting to topple Iran’s religious leadership.
More than 100 defendants were put on trial Saturday, a week after a similar hearing involving other groups of politicians, journalists and protesters. State television showed several pro-opposition politicians and demonstrators in gray prison uniforms sitting in the dock, guarded by police officers.
Outside the courthouse, brief skirmishes broke out between police and family members of the accused.
Most of the 40-page indictment focused on what prosecutors said was an attempt by Western nations — particularly the United States and Britain — to inspire a “velvet revolution” in the turmoil surrounding Iran’s presidential election in June.
Even before the voting, Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps had accused two candidates opposing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of plotting a nonmilitary overthrow modeled after the popular uprisings that toppled governments in Georgia and Ukraine. The guards are widely thought to be behind the arrests and court case, which is playing o…
