The trial of the Azadi Stadium defendants begins

Iran Press News: Translation by Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi

The first session of the Azadi Stadium defendants has begun at branch number 1043 of the Qodoosi Judiciary in Tehran. The incident which took place on March 26th, 2005, after the end of the Iran/Japan Football (Soccer) match lead to the death of 7 spectators. This session took place in the prayer house of the Judiciary complex in the presence of nearest kin to the deceased, two of the 2 defendants and their lawyers.

According to the sentencing recommendation issued from both the medical examiner and the sports federation of Tehran, in this specific case, both the disciplinary forces and the authorities of the Azadi Stadium are 50/50 responsible for the incident.

Adbol-Samad Khorramshahi, one of the defense attorneys said that though there are 14 defendants in this case, for an unknown reason only 2 would be present during the trial.