Iran's Parliament Speaker Rejects Detainee Rape Claims: Via Voice of America.

Iran's parliament speaker has rejected claims that some election protesters were raped in detention after the disputed re-election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Iranian state media said Ali Larijani told parliament Wednesday the rape claims were baseless.  He said an investigation by parliament found "no cases of rape or sexual abuse in Iran's Kahrizak and Evin prisons," where most of the protesters were initially detained.

Larijani had called for an investigation into the sexual abuse claims after defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi made the allegations in a letter to powerful cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Karroubi wrote that women and young boys have suffered severe physical and mental damage from rapes in detention centers.
( Read more ... )