Iranian security forces have arrested eight people following a religious service in Tehran commemorating the 1998 murder of liberal writer Majid Sharif, opposition sources said Saturday.
Among those arrested were Sima Sahebi, widow of writer Mohammad Pouyandeh, assassinated in 1999, and Marzieh Mortazi, wife of reformist dissident Habibollah Peyman.
The two women were freed on their own recognizance and ordered to present themselves to the police on Saturday, the sources said.
The arrests occurred at the end of a memorial service for Sharif at the Ebn-Hassan mosque in northern Tehran attended by hundreds of persons. During the service, Abdolali Bazargan, son of former prime minister Mehdi Bazargan, was prevented from speaking.
Two other people identified among those arrested were Taghi Rahmani and Mohsen Hakimi.
Nationalist political leader Dariush Forouhar and his wife, Parvaneh, were assassinated in their Tehran apartment on October 22, 1998.
Three other writers who fought vigorously for the freedom of expression -- Sharif, Mohammad Mokhtari and Pouyandeh -- were killed just over a month later.
The judiciary said last week that 18 people -- three principals and 15 accomplices -- would be tried for the killings, adding that the judge of the revolutionary court would decide if the trial would be open to the public.
Authorities blamed the killings on "rogue" agents of the intelligence ministry, which acknowledged blame but denied that its top officials had any connection to the murders.
The alleged mastermind, Said Emami, was reported to have committed suicide in prison in June 1999.
The trial begins December 23 at Tehran's military court – TEHRAN (AFP)
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