Iran`s Mortazavi rejects involvement in Kahrizak case

TEHRAN,March 11(MNA) – The second closed-door court session in the trial of the three judges accused of involvement in the case of the Kahrizak incident was held in Tehran on Sunday. The Kahrizak detention center came into the spotlight after it was revealed that three inmates detained in connection with the political unrest following the June 2009 presidential election had lost their lives there in July 2009. Later, three high-ranking judicial officials at Tehran Prosecutor’s Office who were connected with the case were suspended from duty. After the court session, Saeed Mortazavi, who was the Tehran prosecutor general at the time, said that the accusation of his involvement in the case was unfounded. “At the time when the Kahrizak incident occurred, I was on leave, and other judges issued and confirmed detention orders,” he told reporters. The detention center, located south of Tehran, was closed on the order of Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei because it was substandard. A parliamentary report issued on January 10, 2010 found Mortazavi responsible for sending 147 inmates, who were charged with involvement in the post-election unrest, to substandard Kahrizak detention center on July 9, 2009.