Selected Headlines

Chavez visit in apparent violation of Islamic law

Parleman News | September 7, 2009

The presence of the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in the Shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad has infuriated Iranian lawmakers.

On September 6, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took his visiting Venezuelan counterpart to the Shrine of the eight Imam, apparently violating Islamic law.

In the joint press conference held at the Mirror Hall of the Imam Reza Shrine, Ahmadinejad said, "I am pleased that the end of Mr. Chavez's visit coincided with his pilgrimage to Imam Reza Shrine, as this shrine belongs to Imam Reza, a superior being and the supporter of the justice-seeking people of the world."

Shia and Sunni scholars are in agreement that the entry of non-Muslims into places such as mosques, Shrines and other sacred locations is strictly forbidden. Entry into the Imam Reza shrine also falls under this category.

Qom representative Ali Banayi expressed his extreme displeasure toward this latest move by the Iranian president. "The trusteeship of the Astan Qods (Imam Reza shrine) is responsible for preventing such illegal entries unless the non-Muslim individual has secretly entered the premises unnoticed," he said.

"This is a primary decree that does not require a secondary decree to amend it... For instance the requirement of fasting in Ramadan is a primary decree for ordinary circumstances. However, if fasting causes damage to the body and creates problems for one's health then a secondary decree is required which would lift the fasting order for those whom fasting is harmful."

"But there is no necessity for a secondary decree in the case of the ban on the entry of non-Muslims [into a shrine]. Therefore no state consideration can be considered to set this religious decree aside."

Banayi then said, "The same rule applies to Mr. Chavez's presence in the Imam Reza Shrine. The same [rule applies], unless he goes to the location [of the shrine], where the presence of a non-Muslim is not banned, or he is a Muslim-in-secret and we have not been informed about it."

"Perhaps the president wants to give him [Chavez] a taste of Islam and in this manner help this communist president embrace Islam."

Former Ahmadinejad minister met with Israeli counterpart

Jahan News | September 6, 2009

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's former science minister, Mohammad Zahedi, who has been replaced by Kamran Daneshjou, had secretly met with his former Israeli counterpart Raleb Majadele in Jordan, according to reports.

Zahedi, who claimed to have been named "math genius of the decade" by Cambridge University, secretly met with Majadele during the SESAME Council Meeting held in the Jordanian capital of Amman in 2008.

Zahedi has been named as a possible candidate to fill in the position of Iran's envoy to Indonesia and the UAE.

Leader's photographer leaked Kahrizak rapes

Tehran Bureau | September 7, 2009

One of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's photographers, who had been violated in Kahrizak, personally informed the Leader about the incident, leading to the closure of the detention center.

He was arrested during the post-election unrest and taken to Kahrizak where he was violated and tortured.

According to the source, who asked to remain anonymous, upon his release, the photojournalist personally went to the Supreme Leader and informed him about the jail rapes and prisoner abuse taking place in Kahrizak. After the Leader expressed disbelief, the man informed Khamenei that he himself was one of the victims.

According to the source, he reportedly told the Leader, 'What they did was inhumane and in violation of all human rights... When they did those things to me, in my eyes it was you who was doing them.'

It was after hearing his accounts that the Leader ordered the closure of the notorious detention center.

The victim is a well-known documentary maker and a photojournalist who memorably documented the eight-year Iraq-Iran war earning himself a reputation as a 'Sacred Defense' photographer. He has even received a certificate of merit from the Leader and judged at the International Fajr Film Festival and various other photography festivals in Iran.

The rape victim even worked on a documentary about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

During the election, he worked as Mir Hossein Mousavi's documentary maker and was one the cameramen who made Mousavi's campaign films.

A force to be reckoned with. Archive photo.

Karroubi documents torture ordeal of jail rape victim, says more where that came from

Karroubi lashes back at critics, sets record straight

Tagheer.ir (Original source: Saham News)

September 6, 2009

Mehdi Karroubi disputed claims made by two members of the special judiciary committee tasked with investigating jail rapes that he had presented them with no documented proof of his allegations. The opposition cleric turned over a medical report on one jail rape victim tortured in detention and signaled his readiness to turn over more proof.

"I offered them three documents at the meeting," Karroubi said. "The first was a video statement by the individual who has gone missing because of threats issued by the representative of Judge Saeed Mortazavi. My second document was about the [sexual] assault of a woman. The third was a document about one man who was subjected to various calamities after his arrest and I offered a CD and the medical examiner's report on him as well. In that session I also offered two verbal reports as well."

On Saturday, first deputy judiciary chief Ebrahim Raeesi denied receiving any documentation on jail rapes from Karroubi in the meeting the three-member judiciary committee had with him.

Karroubi also said that after he went public with the issue of detainee rapes, Prosecutor-General Qorban-Ali Dorri-Najafabadi visited him and asked to meet with one of the rape victims. Karroubi said the prosecutor had promised to help the victim seek justice.

"But unfortunately unlike the good behavior of Mr. Dorri-Najafabadi's representative, Judge Mortazavi's representative threatened the person in question so that he has been hiding for some time now," Karroubi said.

"Following these incidents, I wrote a letter to the newly appointed Judiciary chief Sadeq Larijani requesting an impartial committee to look into the matter... Mr. Larijani formed a committee with Mr. Raeesi, [Ali] Khalafi and [Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-] Ejei as its members.

"A few days after the formation of this committee, they invited me to a meeting to present them with my documents and so I went. At the meeting, that lasted a few hours, I provided an introduction into the matter... I stressed in that meeting that I had been forced to make my letter public in order to assert the rights of the victims."

Karroubi went on to elaborate on the two oral reports he had offered at the meeting. "One of the reports was about Taraneh Mousavi... I told them her family [is so scared] after the incident that they refuse to even let the girl who was with their daughter on that day [when she was taken] into their home anymore... [I told them] that you, as the officials of this country, must visit the family yourselves and find out the truth of matter... Go to Karaj city's Imam Khomeini Hospital and seek the doctor's opinion about the injuries on this girl's body... I gave them a second report as well."

Karroubi added that he had told the committee that he would not make public the details of the meeting and would leave the investigation of the documents to the judiciary team.

Karroubi, the Secretary-General of the National Confidence party, said that it had been agreed at the meeting that the rape claims would be investigated. If found to be true, legal action would be taken against the perpetrators.

"It was decided that none of us would talk about the meeting until after the conclusion of the investigation, at which point the result would be announced."

Karroubi went on to criticize Raeesi's breach of that agreement. "Unfortunately Mr. Raeesi gave an interview and said that I had not presented any documents at the meeting and [said simply that I had] made some claims, which they were looking into. I was greatly surprised by his remarks and I should note that the so-called 'national' radio broadcast this interview more than a few times."

Karroubi criticized the hard-line Kayhan daily for running an article which accused Karroubi of lying, being used by Mohammad Khatami and Mir Hossein Mousavi in their quest for power, and being mentally insane.

Karroubi then mocked the judiciary committee's definition of documentation. "Maybe these friends of ours think documentation means there needs to be more unrest and more people need to be arrested in that unrest and the people must be blindfolded and tortured or violated after being taken to unknown locations or in cars and someone must witness this ordeal and report that it [sexual assault] has taken place. Or maybe they think a few credible witnesses must report from Kahrizak... although in some of their opinions, there is no credible witness in that detention center and everyone who was detained there was a thug, spy or enemy agent or a person duped [by foreign powers], making their accounts unacceptable for these gentleman."

"My documents are based on interviews with violated detainees. We have obtained a physician's opinion about these violated detainees and filmed them... When I went to the meeting that day I gave a CD along with the names and addresses of these individuals and kept a copy of it for myself. Of course, I still haven't turned over some of my documents and films to the committee."

Karroubi pointed out that other officials had also personally informed him about encounters with the family of rape victims. Ali Motahari was one of them.

"Mr. Motahari told me that the boy's mother was in a very bad mental and physical condition and could not stop crying. Mr. Motahari said that logic dictated that the boy's mother's statements could not have been contrary to the truth."

According to Karroubi, Motahari had said that the treatment that the boy's family had received after approaching him had prompted the mother to visit him after a while and tell him that the family no longer wished to pursue the matter and that 'they no longer have anything to say'.

"It appears that some of these sirs are using threats and intimidation techniques to prevent any of the victims from talking about what happened to them."

"I expected the [judiciary] committee to investigate the incidents as it was agreed upon and if there was to be an interview [I expected them] to talk without letting their personal grudges and prejudices cloud their judgment. But unfortunately Mr. Raeesi, along with certain newspapers, behaved in a [despicable] manner."

In response to the Kahyan attack, Karroubi said, "Our friends at Kayhan are well informed about [many] things before they happen and they want to cover up a crime that has been committed. These friends of ours, who go to the doors of the victims with flowers and promise them money and medical attention, are trying to cover up these incidents [of jail rapes and tortures] but we don't have any money to offer these people and are above such acts. But it appears that these gentleman have no qualms about lying and making unfounded accusations and want to use the treasury to damage national interests."

"With regard to the claims made by some of these friends that I have no documents to offer, as proof I will release a small piece of the evidence in my possession. This is the medical examiner's report on one of the victims who does not claim to have been subject to complete sexual assault... If need be I will release more detailed documents."

The medical examiner's report on the victim is dated August 24 and addressed to a police chief whose name has been expunged from the report along with the name of the victim and the report's registration number.

The report includes a detailed account of the physical injuries sustained by the male victim, including bruises under both eyes, blows to the back of the skull, wrist abrasions, abrasions around both ankles, two abrasions behind both legs, an abrasion on the left cheek; round, second degree burns on the right wrist, head, behind the neck and left shoulder, on the back of the right and left hands (2% of the body); bruising on the buttocks and around the rectum due to the entry of a foreign object.

Photo location: Ferdos University of Mashhad

Badamchian: Green path, path of darkness and doom

Rokhdad | September 6, 2009

Assadolah Badamchian, a Tehran representative in Majlis, characterized Mir Hossein Mousavi's latest statement as an invitation to riot and advised him against treading the path of sedition.

"Mousavi's last statement was fundamentally issued to give rise to tension and an invitation to riot... It clearly shows that he is still upset by the heavy defeat he suffered in the election," Badamchian said.

"Mousavi is deluded and his countless statements show that he is under the influence of this false impression... In his statement, he freely claims there is no freedom in the country and he wants to assert the rights of the nation... We would like to advise him as a friend to respect the realities as they are and not tread the path of sedition and [ask him to] return to the path of the nation."

"My experience has shown that the green path proposed by Mr. Mousavi is in reality a dark and black path and his group will in the end turn into a seditionist group... The issues they raise only serve enemy interests and have no benefits for the country."

In another part of his interview with Fars News Agency regarding possible legal action against Mousavi, Badamchian said, "I have complete faith in the judiciary and I believe if Mousavi has committed a crime the judiciary will deal with him and this issue should not be politicized."