The lawyer for a number of Facebook users who were arrested by Iranian authorities for their cyber activities reported on Monday September 29 that his clients have “accepted some of their mistakes and expressed remorse” in the appeals court.
The appeals court hearing of eight Facebook users was held on Sunday September 28 in Tehran, according to IRNA.
Their lawyer, Shima Ghosheh, reports that in addition to presenting their defence at the trial, the accused called for Islamic mercy.
He added that seven of the accused were present in court and only one, who has been out on bail, was not in court.
Ghosheh said the hearing took four hours and, unlike the preliminary court, the accused were given a chance to speak and defend themselves.
The eight Facebook users were arrested in July and charged with “assembly and collusion against national security”, “propaganda activities against the regime”, “insulting sanctities” and “insulting the senior government officials and other individuals.”
In the preliminary court, they were sentenced to stiff prison terms, monetary fines and lashes in the preliminary court.
