TEHRAN – Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani has dismissed claims by the defeated candidate Mahdi Karroubi that a number of detainees arrested in the post-election unrest were raped or sexually harassed.

“Thorough and comprehensive investigations about detainees at Kahrizak and Evin (prisons) show that there was not any case of rape or harassment,” Larijani told MPs on Wednesday.
Larijani made the remarks in response to a letter, dated July 29, from Karroubi to Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsdanjani in which Karroubi had asked Rafsanjani to examine rumors of sexual abuse of the detainees.
“The content of this letter was moving, and foreign media outlets focused on it immediately. I asked the Majlis fact-finding committee to investigate the issue because of its sensitivity,” Larijani explained.
The speaker said the parliamentary special committee on the post-election detentions has said if Karroubi has any evidence or documentation that proves a sexual abuse of the detainees, he should submit them to the committee for investigation.
Larijani said he had also investigated the issue through another channel but it yielded the same result as found out by the parliamentary committee.
“As you can see the issue of sexual harassment of the detainees is totally baseless,” he added.
Meanwhile defeated presidential candidate Mohsen Rezaii stated on Wednesday that if in the Islamic Republic a police officer does something unethical, a “national mourning” should be declared.
National Police Chief Esmaeil Ahmadi Moqadam has admitted that the detainees held at the Kahrizak detention center in south Tehran had been physically and psychologically tortured.
The Kahrizak detention center, located south of Tehran, was closed on the order of Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei because it was not up to standards. On Sunday, MP Hamid-Reza Katouzian said Ahmadi Moqadam is “directly responsible” for the incidents at the Kahrizak detention center