| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iran |
| Iranian Prosecutor Blamed for Murder |
| 2003-10-28 |
| EFL: Iran’s reformist-dominated parliament on Tuesday accused hard-line Tehran prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi of illegally detaining a Canadian photojournalist and then covering up facts surrounding her death in custody in July. Zahra Kazemi, a Canadian of Iranian origin, died July 10, about three weeks after being detained for taking photographs outside a Tehran prison during student-led protests against the ruling Islamic establishment. An intelligence agent charged with her alleged beating death has pleaded innocent. In Tuesday’s report, the parliament held Mortazavi responsible, as the highest authority in the Tehran prosecutor’s office. The report will be sent to the judiciary, Parliamentary Speaker Mahdi Karroubi said - likely meaning Mortazavi will be summoned for questioning in the trial of the intelligence agent. It is too early to tell if charges would be filed against Mortazavi. I won’t hold my breath. "The detention of Kazemi ... was unjustified ... and against legal procedures," the parliament said in its report on the death, read out in an open session and broadcast live on state-run Tehran radio. The parliament accused Mortazavi - who said Kazemi died of a stroke - of covering up facts about her death and having no evidence when he accused her of spying for foreign intelligence agencies and having no permission to work. The report said Kazemi carried an official press card to work authorized by Culture Ministry officials. Oops! The report, citing police and intelligence reports, said Kazemi was first severely beaten by judiciary officials in Evin prison, north of Tehran. It said 20 guards who witnessed and reported the beating were later forced to change their reports. The prison books have also been tampered with, the parliamentary report said. Tap, tap, nope A committee appointed by the president concluded that Kazemi died of head injuries sustained while in custody. The report also condemned Mortazavi for failing to respond to questions justifying Kazemi’s detention and refusing to attend parliamentary sessions to offer explanations. Guess he doesn’t think much of them Tehran’s deputy prosecutor general last month charged Intelligence Ministry agent Mohammad Reza Aghdam Ahmadi with "semi premeditated murder" in Kazemi’s death. The prosecutor said Ahmadi was the only interrogator who spent long periods of time alone with Kazemi and that the agent refused to answer some questions about Kazemi’s treatment and gave contradictory statements. The Intelligence Ministry, which is loosely controlled by reformists, rejected Ahmadi’s indictment, claiming a judicial official assaulted Kazemi. The intel troops apparently were not happy at being picked as the fall guy. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #4 Bomb, you get the idea. "Are you allergic to petroleum prducts? We use Vaseline on our genital electrodes, but we have KY availble." |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-10-28 3:19:01 PM |
| #3 "Let me see that chart.......ok, the last session employed a whip, so thumbscrews are all right for the next round." |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2003-10-28 12:46:10 PM |
| #2 Bomb-a-rama, I think this is bigger than that. I think we're going to see reform and restructuring of the Iranian torture apparatus. I expect to see them move to a more involved check-in system simular to what you see in a hospital ER. In the current system an interrogator would have no idea what type of allergies or previous surgeries a subject might have. I think the Iranians will start using a device simular to a patient chart so that the 2nd shift interrogator can know whether last shift used the thumbscrews of not. The check-in interrogator can either be an interrogator in training or maybe a interrogator that doesn't have the raw personal skills and bedside manner to be a quality interrogator. The personal will have to have some basic interrogation skils to ensure that teh information collected is of the highest quality. I provide a sample entry for clarification: Subject holds a dual Canadian citizenship. Don't brutally cave her head in. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-10-28 11:29:07 AM |
| #1 Scapegoat alert. You may now continue whatever it is you were doing. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2003-10-28 11:08:05 AM |