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| Iran detainees dismiss 'under duress' confessions |
| 2009-08-04 |
| Two prominent Iranian detainees, Mohammad-Ali Abtahi and Mohammad Atrianfar have dismissed claims that their confessions have been extracted under pressure. Abtahi, a close aide to former president Mohammad Khatami, and Atrianfar -- a senior advisor to former president Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani -- told Iranian television on Sunday that allegations that drugs had induced their confessions are an insult to the intelligence of Iranians. The two reformist figures pointed out that they were treated humanely while in detention. Meanwhile, the two detainees once again rejected claims that the presidential election was rigged in favor of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Abtahi also said that it's impossible to plagiarize eleven million votes -- the margin with which incumbent President Ahmadinejad was re-elected. They further admitted that the post-election unrest was aimed at staging a velvet revolution in the Islamic Republic. According to the country's defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi, "medieval torture" was used to force confessions in the Revolution Court. The former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami also rejected the trial as a "show," saying the confessions are invalid and un-constitutional. "What they called a trial... was against the constitution, regular laws and rights of the citizens," Khatami said. The second hearing of the trial is scheduled for Thursday, one day after President Ahmadinejad is to be sworn in for his second term before Parliament. |
| Posted by:Fred |