Print
Iran 'butcher' to interrogate opposition leaders
Admin - Jun 25, 09
http://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/iran-empowers-butcher-to-interrogate-opposition-leaders
June 25, 2009 (Raw Story) - Saaed Mortazavi, an Iranian prosecutor who was responsible for ordering over 100 newspapers closed and dozens of bloggers and journalists arrested, tortured and in some
cases, killed, has been empowered to interrogate Iran’s opposition leaders, according to published reports.Mortazavi’s frightful history has earned him two distinct nicknames: “Butcher of the press” and “torturer of Tehran.”
“The leading role of Saeed Mortazavi in the crackdown in Tehran should set off alarm bells for anyone familiar with his record,” said Human Rights Watch Middle East director Sarah Leah Whitson, according to a a Times Online report.
Iranian publication al-Bawaba added: “In 2000, Mortazavi led a crackdown against the Islamic Republic’s domestic opposition, ordering the closure of over 100 newspapers. Four years later he detained more than twenty bloggers and journalists, holding them in unknown locations.”
Mortazavi was also responsible for the arrest, torture, rape and death of Zahra Kazemi, a Canadian photographer. Additionally, he oversaw the arrest and prosecution of Roxana Saberi, an American journalist, earlier this year. Kazemi and Saberi were both accused of espionage.
“I have no doubt that these protesters will be treated just as brutally as Ms. Kazemi, maybe worse,” said Shahram Azam, a doctor who, in 2005, testified to a Canadian court that Kazemi had been tortured. His remarks were carried by Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail. “Ottawa should strongly object and demand his immediate arrest. With him in charge, we can be sure that torture and death will happen again.”
The Times noted: “[Mortazavi's] name has appeared on the arrest warrants of prominent reformists rounded up since the unrest started, such as Saeed Hajarian, a close aide of Mohammad Khatami, the reformist former President. With more than 600 people now having been arrested, including dozens of journalists, many fear the worst.
