Larijani raps Karroubi’s ‘inappropriate tactic’

          
          Press TV http://www.presstv.ir/pop/Print/?id=103544
          E 1L1 JUTV
          Larijani raps Karroubi's ‘inappropriate tactic'
          Sat, 15 Aug 2009 09:48 :20 GMT
          After ex-presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi slammed parliament over ‘hastily denying jail rape
          reports', speaker Ali Larijani has rapped him for employing ‘inappropriate tactic'.
          In a letter to Karroubi released on August 14, Larijani responded to the Reformist cleric's remarks
          on previous day that took a shot at the legislative branch including Larijani for adopting a ‘hasty'
          approach toward the controversial ‘jail rape' report.
          Larijani said he was ‘astonished' by Karroubi's ‘testy and stinging remarks' that said the Majlis had
          rushed into rejecting the sexual abuse report.
          According to Larijani, the Majlis had received certain information on the controversial issue that
          appeared in cyberspace almost one month ago.
          He said the Majils' special committee tasked with investigating the post-vote incidents launched a
          probe into all cases it had received which amounted to ‘more than 100' cases. There was
          consequently no ‘hasty' attitude toward the issue, Larijani added.
          Karroubi first raised questions about reports of sexual abuse of post-election detainees in a letter
          dated July 29 to Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, the Chairman of Expediency Council.
          In his letter, Karroubi urged a probe into the reports of the sexual abuse of prisoners at the
          notorious Kahrizak detention center south of Tehran, where he had been told a number of male
          and female detainees were allegedly brutally raped.
          On August 12, Larijani dismissed the report as a ‘lie', saying that a ‘precise and comprehensive'
          inquiry into the issue found no cases of sexual abuse.
          In reaction to this denial, Karroubi, himself a former Majlis speaker, criticized officials in particular
          Larijani for rejecting the sexual abuse reports as a lie ‘without conducting an investigation' into the
          issue.
          The veteran Reformist figure said he did not expect the Majlis deputies, who were supposed to
          probe into the issue, “to deny the content of his letter within 24 hours and even before convening
          of the special committee tasked with investigating the issue,” to give a report on the controversial
          matter.
          The defeated candidate said on August 13 that the Majlis, at the very least, could have contacted
          him to be informed about the evidence of the claim.
          The former two-time Majlis speaker also took another shot at Larijani and said that he had rejected
          the reports “under pressure” and for the fear that he may lose his Speaker's position.
          In his August 14 letter, Larijani went on to add that Karroubi's claim that the denial came under
          pressure was an ‘inappropriate tactic' which can also be employed against Mr. Karroubi.
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          Press TV http://www.presstv.ir/pop/Printl'?id= 103544
          Rejecting the latest remarks by the prominent Reformist figure as projection, the Majlis speaker
          said: It's also possible to say that Karroubi has been manipulated to make such claims.”
          Larijani further stressed that the Majlis committee was duty-bound to observe justice” when
          dealing with such issues.
          He also reacted to Karroubi's claim that the Majlis could have contacted him to obtain information
          on the issue, which he says he has in his possession.
          The speaker said the committee would have contacted him, if Karroubi had not made public his
          claim and had initially informed the committee instead of adopting a ‘hasty' position on the matter.
          Larijani added that it was the former presidential candidate, and not the Majlis, who took a hasty”
          approach by adopting a stance before the Judiciary or Legislative branches had published their
          final reports on the issue.
          The sub-standard” detention camp of Kahrizak was shut down upon a direct order by the Leader
          of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in July after reports surfaced about the
          serious maltreatment of detainees who had been rounded up following the disputed June 12
          presidential election.
          After the shutdown, the head of Kahrizak detention camp was dismissed and arrested for
          dereliction of duty.”
          AR/ZAP/DT
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