Iranian author Marjane Satrapi speaks out about election

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Marjane Satrapi, Iranian author of ‘Perseoplis,’ and Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalba appeared before Green Party MPs in the European parliament Monday in Brussels to protest the announced results of the election in Iran.

Makhmalba, who is a spokesman for opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, was joined by Satrapi, who makes her home in Paris, in presenting a document they said had come from the Iranian electoral commission showing that Mousavi had won the election with 19 million votes. ADN Kronos International reports:

The document said liberal cleric and former parliament speaker Mehdi Karroubi came second in the election with a total of 13.3 million votes, while president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came third with only 5.49 million votes.

However, there is no certainty about the legitimacy of the document.

‘Ahmadinejad received only 12 percent of the vote, not 65 percent,’ said Marjane Satrapi.

The official tally of the election is 24.5 million votes for Ahmadinejad and 13.2 million votes for Mousavi.

Satrapi, who has lived in Paris since 1997, has written three graphic novels with the publisher Pantheon; ‘Perseopolis’ was critically acclaimed in France and a bestseller in the U.S. The film version, directed by Satrapi, was nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Feature.

-- Carolyn Kellogg