Iran indicts alleged murderers of dissidents

TEHRAN, Iran (Reuters) -- Iran's judiciary has indicted 18 people, including senior intelligence officials, on charges of murdering dissidents, newspapers reported on Tuesday.

The accused are to stand trial in a military court for the murder of four dissident intellectuals in 1998, the daily Hayat-e No quoted a senior judiciary official as saying. Other newspapers carried similar reports.

A key suspect, former deputy intelligence minister Saeed Emami, died while in custody last year, reportedly a suicide.

Pro-democracy activists say a wave of politically-motivated murders masterminded by "rogue" agents in the security services left more than 80 people dead over the past decade.

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They have protested at the decision to limit the investigation to only four murder cases. Some also link the murders to senior figures in the establishment.

Akbar Ganji and Emadeddin Baqi, two reformist journalists who were investigating the murders and the purported links between the killers and establishment officials, have been imprisoned.

Pro-reform newspapers which called for full investigations have also been closed down by hardliners who dominate the judiciary.

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