The Defenders of Human Rights Center, Shirin Ebadi’s Iranian-based civil rights group, released a statement that condemns the video broadcast by Iranian state television.

“The unprecedented airing of statements by Haleh Esfandiari … and Kian Tajbakhsh are against law and violate the rights of the accused,” the Defenders of Human Rights Centre said in a statement.

Citing articles in Iran’s penal code, Ebadi’s group said: “It is forbidden and an offence to reveal the statements of the accused or the content of the case through the mass media before a final verdict.”

Summarized from Agence France Presse 07/24/07