IRAN: Mehdi Karroubi refuses to back down from rape allegations

He's been threatened with imminent arrest, called a liar and an enemy of the state.

But 72-year-old Iranian opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi shows no signs whatsoever of backing down from his claim that security forces brutally raped protesters swept up in weeks of unrest following the elections.

Instead of quieting down in the face of a relentless call by hardliners for his arrest and the issuance of a government report denying his explosive allegation of rape, Karroubi responded today with more detailed allegations and accused the government of a coverrup. 

"I wish I were not alive to hear a citizen of the Islamic Republic come to me and recount his story of having been subject to improper and heinous acts by unknown individuals in deserted buildings," he said in the letter on his new website, Tagheer.ir, launched after his newspaper and old website were shut down by authorities. 

"[The detainees] were stripped and seated face-to-face, insulted impudently, urinated upon and abandoned blindfolded with hands tied behind their backs in deserts," he wrote. 'That's not all. Young boys and girls were raped in detention centers."

The government had promised to investigate his rape allegations, only to issue a report over the weekend saying no such thing occurred and that Karroubi was lying to promote a political agenda. This was days after authorities shut down an office Karroubi had set up to investigate the claims.

Karroubi says the investigation was proceeding well until former Tehran prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi interfered, demanding to meet with one of the alleged victims of rape. 

But instead of listening to his complaint, he told the young man to shut up. 

"'You should have remained silent for God's sake and for the sake of your family,'" the victim was told. "'You should not have let this affair play into the hands of political activists.'" 

The next day Mortazavi dispatched agents to the young man's neighborhood to spread rumors about him him under the pretext of investigating his claims. The young man has since disappeared, Karroubi said. 

His father, an elderly former Iran-Iraq war veteran, can't stop weeping, Karroubi said.

Another case, Karroubi presented to the judiciary was about a young woman arrested in a street demonstration. 

Karroubi included an excerpt from her testimony:

"The agents fondled me on the way and after we arrived at the police post I was forced to take my trousers off. I refused to do so, but I was stripped by force. A senior officer came and asked what was happening and they said I have undressed myself voluntarily in order to discredit them."

A third case involved a young political activist. 

"He had his own medical proof showing inflammation of his anus," Karroubi wrote. "He had lost conscience in detention for long and he did not know what has happened to him to have developed bruises around anus. He had been severely beaten for five consecutive days and the jailers had finally abandoned him in a remote desert because they feared he would die."

In addition, he said told the authorities about two other women -- Taraneh Mousavi and Saeedeh Pour-Aghai -- who were reported to have been raped and murdered. But he said a certain "government agent" refused his request to examine their bodies.

At a separate meeting,  Karroubi presented evidence about a young woman who had been arrested and raped, along with another woman. She is now suicidal, Karroubi said. 

Karroubi said after reading the report by the judiciary denying the rape allegations, "I become more assured that the panel members had been ordered to rubberstamp the case." 

He said the report attributes comments to him which are lies. 

"Impudence is so rife that [the authorities] intend to prosecute Mehdi Karroubi instead of the perpetrators of these crimes and their accomplices," he wrote. "These crimes, committed by a group, are a shame for the Islamic Republic and our country."

-- Los Angeles Times

Photo: Mehdi Karroubi, along with Mir-Hossein Mousavi, lost to President Ahmadinejad in the June 12 presidential election marred by opposition claims of widespread vote fraud. He has been an outspoken critic of the ensuing crackdown on dissent. Credit: Atta Kenare / AFP/Getty Images

Comments

[Amen Best]

ISLAM IS THE BEST. MUSLIM (PEOPLE WHO BECAME ISLAM) VARIES. IF THEY FOLLOW ISLAM TRUELY - THE BECAME GOOD MUSLIM. IF THEY RELUCTANT TO FOLLOW ISLAM TOTALLY, STILL LISTEN TO NON MUSLIM ( PEOPLE OR GOVENRMENT) LIKE ISRAEL OR U.S, THEY WILL DO EVERYTHING IN THEIR EFFORT TO DISCREADIT IS AS SUCH MENTION. SO DON'T BLAME ISLAM OR ISLAMIC GOVERNMENT, BLAME THOSE WHO USE MUSLIM TO DICREADIT ISLAM FOR THEIR PERSONAL AGENDA.

[iranparast]

karobi is a hero for us
but ahmadinejad is a crazyman
this is eslam
rape and torture is raely islam
we are zartushty no islamic
payande iran

[Gharibe ashena]

This regime is imploding from within. Haj Hussein Obama, better take the side of the people of Iran, or there will be much darker future for us all. This regime (IRI) must be sent to the garbage disposal of the history, let the pride Iranian people get back their freedom and old glory.

Long Live IRAN.. Death to Taliban, in Kabol or in Tehran..

[dave]

Damn. America fails again. See, when we (the US) decide to torture people, we put wet rags in their mouths, then pour water in their faces. Or, we let our female personnel see their men naked. Or we force them to make naked pyramids, while we photograph them. When we catch the people doing it, we put them in prison for a couple years.

When Iran decides to torture someone, they rape them, then tie them up in the desert and leave them for dead. When they get caught, they prevent any investigation, and threaten to kill the victim's family.

Obviously, US interrogators have a thing or two to learn from the Iranian government.

[AhMad]

Iranian authorities are not muslims. No muslim would do to another what they have done. They have covered up these crimes and tried to silence the voice of the people by commiting very terrible acts. God will punish this badness.

[mahmodkhoshgele]

akhar nagofty on 300 melyono chika kardya,kalak

[Saleh]

Oh god the old shikh is off again. He sill hasn't explained where he got his house from, from his nanjoon or the people. Ahmadinejad will find the answer.

[Alexandre]

When We ask the iranien autorities about their nuclear ambition, they answer : "we dont want nuclear weapon because they are not allowed by Islam"
Lets ask them if their Islam authorize rape and torture.
Now you can imagin how these people will react once they have nuclear weapon