Tehran's revolutionary court said on Friday that the arrested members of the Freedom Movement in Iran (FMI) were “planning to topple the Islamic Republic through an armed struggle,” reported the Iranian news agency (IRNA) on Friday.
The court last month arrested over 60 religious-nationalist activists on charges of subversive actions.
More than 17 of those were released last week after posting bail.
"According to our investigations, those arrested were aiming to topple the system through infiltration and creating gaps and disputes among state ranks as well as infringing on the lofty status of the leadership and other legal institutes," the court said in a statement, cited by the agency.
"They were trying to establish a Western-style government. In order to achieve this sinister objective they were considering an active resistance and eventually an armed struggle," the statement added.
"The so-called religious-nationalist suspects have confessed to collaborating with dissident exiled groups including the People's Fadaian, the so-called National Resistance Council as well as the royalists," the court said, adding that they had been already found guilty of terrorist actions and inciting riots.
According to tapes and other documents seized from the suspects, they were also considering armed struggle and small-scale assassinations as a tactic, the court added.
“They were trying to weaken people's beliefs in Islam and their trust in the spiritual leaders of the Islamic Revolution.”
President Mohammed Khatami condemned the arrests – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
