Iran’s judiciary has banned defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi’s reformist newspaper after it printed his claims that some election protesters were raped or tortured in custody.
Karroubi’s son Hossein said on his father’s party Web site yesterday that a prosecution official had ordered a “temporary ban” on the publication of Etemed Melli on Sunday.
Mehdi Karroubi has stoked the ire of the authorities with allegations that women and young boys detained in custody after the massive protests over Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s June re-election had been raped.
His son said the paper was banned because his father had printed “responses to insults against him,” over the rape claims, which hardliners charge played into the hands of Iran’s foreign critics.
Karroubi, a former parliament speaker who came a distant fourth in the election and is now a leading figure in the opposition, vowed on Sunday to seek the truth over the prison abuse allegations.
“But I say again that this behavior and intimidation will not silence me and I will raise the issues I deem necessary. I will only shut up when all the dimensions of these incidents have been examined and the people are told the truth,” he said.
Another newspaper, Kalemeh Sabz (Green Word), which belonged to Ahmadinejad’s main defeated rival Mir Hossein Mousavi, was shut down by the authorities in the wake of the disputed election.
About 4,000 opposition supporters were initially arrested over the unrest that swept Tehran and other cities after the election. Most have since been released, but around 200 remain behind bars. Around 140 have also been put on trial.
The authorities say about 30 people were killed in post-election violence while the opposition has said 69 people died.
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