UPDATE, January 6: The media coverage of this story has also included this article on the Persian Journal website, coverage on the Iran Dokht website, and coverage in Thailand and on Voice of America.

The illegitimate and undisclosed charges brought against Doctors Kamiar and Arash Alaei in Tehran’s Revolutionary Court on December 31 have shocked activists and stirred media attention. Reporter Paul Grondahl described the Alaei’s illegitimate, secretive army trial in a January 3 Albany Times-Union article:

The highly irregular one-day trial of the brothers, who operated AIDS clinics in their home country of Iran for years with tacit government approval, involved secret charges along with public indictments that the brothers conspired to overthrow the Iranian government.

Jonathan Hutson, a spokesman for Physicians for Human Rights, said the brothers and their attorney, Masoud Shafie, did not know all the charges, were not allowed to review all the evidence and were not given adequate opportunities to refute the prosecution’s case in Tehran’s Revolutionary Court.

The brothers’ court appearance follows their six-month detention in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison. Both doctors have worked to develop Iranian harm-reduction programs, improve medical cooperation in the region and have participated in international health conferences. For the latter, they have been charged with attempting to overthrow the Iranian government. Grondahl quotes PHR’s Jonathan Hutson:

“The publicly announced charges were unfounded, politically motivated and illegitimate,” Hutson said. “They were not guilty of crimes. They were practicing good medicine.”

The article mentions the efforts of Physicians for Human Rights in calling for the Alaeis’ immediate release through a global action campaign. More than 3,100 people from 85 countries have signed the petition at this site calling for the brothers’ release.