Tehran, Iran, September 11
By Mehdi Sepahvand – Trend:
Said Mortazavi, under arrest on charge of having a number of detainees tortured to death under his tenancy as Tehran prosecutor general in 2009, has apologized to the families of the victims.
He made his apology during his third hearing over a plea by the Ruholaminies, who lost a son while he was incarcerated in the Kahrizak facility to the south of Tehran for participation in the post-election riots of that year, IRNA news agency reported September 11.
Mortazavi was named by a 2010 Iranian parliamentary report as the man responsible for abuse of dozens and death of three political prisoners at Kahrizak detention center in 2009. He was put on trial in February 2013 after a parliamentary committee blamed him for the torture and deaths of at least three detainees who participated in the protests against the then president Mahmud Ahmadinejad's reelection. On 15 November 2014, he was banned from all political and legal positions for life.
IRNA quoted Mortazavi as having also handed a letter to the court “narrating the situations of that time and his duty as the prosecutor general of Tehran vis-à-vis those issues.”
“I, as the prosecutor general of Tehran at that time, express ashamedness to God for the ghastly incident, although God Almighty is well aware that there has been no will in its occurrence,” Mortazavi was quoted as having said in his letter.
Mortazavi has been acquitted of the charges of having acted as accessory in murder and violating the verdicts of Kahrizak judges. He has also been acquitted of the charge of having assisted filing a false report over the incidents.