TEHRAN, Iran – Iran’s supreme leader ordered the closure of a prison where rights workers say protesters detained in the country’s election turmoil have died, officials said Tuesday, as the head of the opposition sharply condemned the wave of arrests.
The order by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was a nod to concerns over the treatment of the hundreds arrested after the disputed June 12 presidential election. Authorities appear to be paying greater attention to the complaints after the son of a prominent conservative figure died in prison – reportedly the same one closed by Khamenei.
Besides the closure of Kahrizak prison, the head of Iran’s judiciary, promised on Monday that the public prosecutor would review the situation of all the hundreds of postelection detainees within a week and decide whether to release or bring them to trial, the state news agency IRNA reported. Also, a parliament committee investigating detainees’ condition is scheduled to visit Tehran’s main prison, Evin, on Tuesday, according to IRNA.
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This is quite a gesture. Obama was right, we can negotiate with the merciful Mullahs. Just imagine how liberally they might have acted had violence on the streets been even more widespread, and with people killed, say by police thugs wielding axes.
Hope and change!
I guess he’s following Obama’s lead with the planned closing of Guatanimo.