Opposition leader reaffirms stance on election fraud

Mehdi Karroubi

Opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi condemned the Islamic Republic’s government for its violent treatment of post-election protesters and once more emphasized his stance regarding the alleged fraud in the June elections.

Today, Saham News, Etemad-e-Melli website, published Mehdi Karroubi’s speech to a group of political figures and reformist leaders saying: “With the passage of time, I have become fully convinced of the widespread fraud in the conduct of the elections because every day we receive more information about the handling of the votes.”

He condemned the violence used against election protesters saying: “What did the three million people, who came to the streets without any advertising or networking from Azadi Square all the way to Imam Hosein, ask for with their silence? Should the response to those who came into the scene with such grace have been given with batons, tear bombs and bullets?”

He referred to the atrocities committed in Kahrizak prison saying: “Wasn’t it you who kept on shamelessly saying our dear children had died from meningitis? If it wasn’t for my hollers and the efforts of Mr. Mousavi and the presence of our dear people in the scene, you would never have confessed to the occurrence of these murders.”

After repeated efforts by the police department to cover up the events at Kahrizak detention centre, a parliamentary probe into the conduct of Kahrizak, which was used in the early days of the protests for holding some of the election protesters, was only recently released, officially confirming that the police force and the judiciary were at fault where many detainees were tortured and even killed at this centre.

Despite media reports that Mehdi Karroubi has recognized Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the president, his son claimed his father has merely recognized Ahmadinejad as the head of the acting government. Mehdi Karroubi emphasized that he still stands by his allegations of fraud in the elections and he will “never negotiate over the rights of the people of Iran.”