An Iranian parliamentary committee found Tehran's former prosecutor responsible for the decision to house protesters in an unsuitable detention facility where at least three detainees died from alleged torture, Iranian state media reported Sunday.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, right, arrives to deliver a speech to parliament in Tehran on Sunday. A parliamentary committee blamed a former prosecutor for the decision to detain protesters in a facility where they were allegedly tortured and where at least three died.
The finding by lawmakers represents the highest specific rebuke so far of a government official in the handling of domestic unrest that followed contested June 12 presidential elections.
The committee's findings aren't binding, but they underscore the subtle role the body has played so far in questioning the actions of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government amid postelection unrest.
In the weeks and months that followed the disputed vote, many parliament members demanded an investigation of alleged abuses at Kahrizak, a holding facility where some protesters were detained. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the detention center closed amid allegations of abuse, including rape, of detained protesters.
Last month, military prosecutors said at least three detainees at the facility died due to torture, and they charged 12 prison officials with unspecified offenses related to the deaths. The charges marked a dramatic reversal by the government, which had for months denied any significant abuse, blaming the deaths on an outbreak of meningitis.
On Sunday, the Iranian Students News Agency reported that the parliamentary committee's spokesman had released the full report to lawmakers. It said the report found the decision to move detainees to Kahrizak, despite inhospitable conditions there, was that of Tehran's former prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi.
"The officials in Kahrizak initially refused to receive prisoners but because the judicial official -- Mortazavi -- insisted, they were forced to admit" 147 prisoners into a 750-square-foot space, the Associated Press quoted the report saying. The fact-finding panel "directly blames" Mr. Mortazavi for ordering the transfer, Press TV, the state-run, English-language news outlet reported Sunday. The panel, however, didn't find evidence of rape or sexual abuse at the detention facility, Press TV reported.
Mr. Mortazavi was removed from his post as Tehran prosecutor in August and appointed instead as Iran's deputy prosecutor general. Technically, the move was a promotion, but it also removed him from his high-profile prosecutorial role.
Mr. Mortazavi hasn't commented about his role in transferring detainees to Kahrizak.
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