Iranian MP demands prosecution of Saeed Mortazavi

Former Tehran prosecutor, Saeed Mortazavi

Iranian MP, Ahmad Tavakoli called for the prosecution of Saeed Mortazavi as one of the “perpetrators” of the crimes at the notorious Kahrizak Detention Centre.

In the sidelines of the ceremony in Tehran marking the anniversary of the death of Mohsen Ruholamini, one of the victims of the Kahrizak tortures, Tavakoli told reporters that the parliamentary probe into the case has recommended the prosecution of the former terhan prosecutor along with the “main perpetrators” of the Kahrizak events.

Abdolhossein Ruholamini, father of the victim also told Mosalas weekly that Saeed Mortazavi must be prosecuted as “the one who ordered the dispatch of the detainees to Kahrizak.”

Kahrizak Detention Centre

Last summer, three of the detainees who were arrested in the course of street protests to the alleged fraud in the presidential elections were tortured to death at Kahrizak detention centre.

Tehran Prosecutor at the time, Saeed Mortazavi, attempted a cover up by announcing that Amir JavadiFar, Mohsen Ruholamini and Mohammad Kamrani had died due to meningitis but soon after reports of torture at this centre were confirmed by official government reports.

After the appointment of the new head of judiciary, Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, Mortazavi was removed from his position as Tehran prosecutor and soon after, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made him chief of Task Force to Combat Smuggling.

At the same time, speaker of the Parliament, Ali Larijani appointed a panel to probe into the Kahrizak case. The fact-finding panel made direct reference to violations committed by Tehran Prosecutor in the Kahrizak events.

Last month, the judicial branch of the armed forces announced that two of the individuals charged in the case of Kahrizak detention centre accused of “beating detainees to death” have been given the death penalty.

The other nine people accused in the case have been reportedly given sentences ranging from imprisonment, paying fines, suspension from work to flogging, but Tehran’s prosecutor has not been involved in these trials.

Kahrizak detention centre was shut down last August by the order of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei citing “substandard conditions” as the issue of concern.