February 18, 2022
The trial of Iranian-Swedish dissident Habib Chaab started in Tehran January 18, state television showed, with charges including terrorism and “spreading corruption on earth” which is punishable by hanging.
Chaab, also known as Habib Asyud, is one of three expatriate activists who have been lured from their countries of exile to the Middle East and then kidnaped back to Iran. One has been executed. Little has been heard about the second and Chaab is now on trial for his life.
Chaab, in his late forties, has been held in Iran since October 2020 after he disappeared during a visit to Turkey. He is the last of the three to be kidnaped back to Iran.
He has previously appeared in a video, broadcast by Iranian state television, in which he claimed responsibility for launching the attack on a military parade in Ahvaz that killed 25 people.
“He is accused of spreading corruption on earth through the formation, management and leadership of a group called the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz and planning and carrying out terrorist operations and destroying public property,” the prosecutor’s representative said.
State television showed recorded footage of the session that ran for almost an hour, a surprisingly long TV report.
Tehran designates the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz (ASMLA) as a terrorist group, and blames it for a string of attacks in Khuzestan province.
The group carried out “bombings at government and public centers, espionage, armed attacks and acts against national security,” leading to the death and injury of 74 Iranians, the representative said.
In addition to the accused, other leaders of the group based in Europe including Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden, with the financial and logistical support of Saudi Arabia, were in charge of terrorist attacks in Iran, according to the prosecution.
The group’s main objective was “the disintegration of the Iranian province of Khuzestan,” the prosecution said.
Chaab was a dissident living in exile in Sweden and was granted Swedish nationality, but Iran does not recognize dual nationality for its nationals.
“We are in contact with representatives of Iran. We have requested, but have not been granted by Iran, consular access,” Sweden’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“Iran’s stated position is that they view Habib Chaab as only an Iranian citizen and therefore view the case as an Iranian internal matter. We do not share the view stated by Iran,” the statement added.