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TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iran's reformist former President Mohammad Khatami Sunday blasted the trials of people arrested in demonstrations as an "insult" to Iran and Islam.
Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami says the trials of election protesters are damaging.
"Such play-acting ... damages the system and reduces public trust," he said in a statement provided by his office.
Nearly 100 Iranians arrested in the aftermath of the disputed June 12 presidential elections went on trial Saturday, two Iranian news agencies reported.
But Khatami said the trials were unconstitutional, contrary to "the law and the rights of citizens."
The real crimes had been committed by the authorities, he said.
He condemned "the atrocities committed at certain detention centers as well as those committed during arrests which, in some cases, resulted in murder."
He dismissed the reported confessions of the accused, as did another influential ex-president, Ali Akhbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, according to Iran's government-funded Press TV.
Among the charges the detainees are facing are:
-- Attacking military facilities using firearms, cold weapons and fire bombs
-- Attacking government facilities and setting fire to them
-- Destruction of public property
-- Creating panic in public
-- Beating up members of the security forces
Among the nearly 100 defendants are several members of the reformist Mosharekat Party and a member of the central committee of the Kargozaran Party, which is close to Rafsanjani, the semi-official FARS news agency reported. source: cnn.com