Iran’s President Ahmedinejad Orders Probe into Shooting Death of Neda Soltan
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Citing his goal to undermine foreign “propaganda”, Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad has formally requested in a letter to Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi, head of Iran’s judiciary, that an investigation be launched into the circumstances surrounding the shooting death of Neda Agha Soltan. Soltan was shot in the chest and died within minutes, while protesting election results that show Ahmedinejad won re-election.
According to the OpenSalon bloggers’ network:
Ahmadinejad’s letter to the head of the judiciary, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi, describes Neda’s untimely death as ‘heartbreaking.’ “Considering the extensive machination over the heartbreaking incident and the massive propaganda by the foreign media,” he states in the letter, “. . .the involvement of the Iranian nation’s opponents and enemies seems certain in order to politically misuse it and mar the pure image of Islamic republic.”
World leaders, rights activists and opposition supporters have been pressing for an investigation into Soltan’s death. But some fear an investigation requested by Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, against whom Soltan was demonstrating and whose militia forces are alleged to have shot her, may not be anything more than a flagrant attempt to whitewash the incident and the details surrounding how it unfolded.
Opponents of Ahmedinejad have suggested an array of independent investigations may be needed in order to work out the current political crisis. Panels could be formed that would include respected figures from the government and from the opposition parties, as well as an ideologically diverse array of clerics and jurists, to examine the shooting of unarmed demonstrators like Neda Soltan, the mass detentions of political activists, reported militia break-ins at private homes and university dormitories, and the allegations surrounding possible wrondoing in the overseeing of the election of 12 June.
Pressure from pro-democracy demonstrators and from the international community appears to have succeeded in leading the Guardian Council to offer a recount of 10% of all the ballots cast. Mr. Ahmedinejad called for an official review of the sentence of Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi earlier this year, which was reduced, leading to her release.
The Guardian Council’s initial examination of ballots found apparent widespread fraud in 50 districts, where the votes counted outnumbered voters. But the leadership council said it believed the results did not show fraud on a scale wide enough to call into question Ahmedinejad’s victory. Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi maintains the election was stolen and the official count must be thrown out.
To date, evidence suggests a probe initiated by the conservatives aligned with Pres. Ahmedinejad, or by request of Mr. Ahmedinejad himself, will not be broad enough or open enough to include the possibility that government agents were involved, either in the election fraud or the shooting of unarmed demonstrators.
Onlookers say the shooter was wrestled down from a motorcycle by the surrounding crowd and that he shouted he had not intended to kill her. The doctor attending to Soltan on the site of her shooting, himself a random bystander, told the BBC members of the public had taken the alleged shooter’s wallet and that his ID card identified him as a member of the Basij militia. He was apparently let go, due to people’s fear of the militia and military police in the area.
UPDATE, 23:15 GMT: The Guardian Council has found that the official results of the 12 June election are “valid” and will stand. The Huffington Post is reporting:
Iran’s election oversight body on Monday declared the hotly disputed presidential vote to be valid after a partial recount, rejecting opposition allegations of fraud and further silencing calls for a new vote.
State television reported that the Guardian Council presented the conclusion in a letter to the Interior Minister following a recount of a what was described as a randomly selected 10 percent of the almost 40 million ballots cast June 12.
The “meticulous and comprehensive examination” revealed only “slight irregularities that are common to any election and needless of attention,” Guardian Council head Ahmed Jannati said in a letter, according to the state TV channel IRIB.
Observers, including US Sec. of State Hillary Clinton, have questioned the efficacy of the Guardian Council’s partial recount. The supreme leader and the Guardian Council had both previously announced their initial and renewed support for the official count and for the victory of Pres. Mahmoud Ahmedinejad. With British embassy employees still in detention and hundreds of opposition supporters detained and/or unaccounted for, efforts to prevent the opposition from having a voice are clear and persistent.
More reporting on Iran’s election crisis, from Café Sentido:
- Mir Hossein Mousavi’s official message to Iranians abroad (transcript)
- Kalemeh, Mousavi’s Web Site, Shut Down by Iranian Authorities
- Iran Arrests 8 Employees of UK Embassy, Alleging Subversion
- Detained Reformists Reportedly Tortured to Induce Testimony About ‘Foreign Plot’
- Doctor Who Tended to Neda Soltan Tells BBC What He Observed
- Language of Resistance Intensifies Amid New Reports of Demonstrators Attacked
- Full Obama Press Conference on Iran, Economic Recovery, Healthcare (video + transcript)
- What Happened at Baharestan Square?
- Iran Protesters Reportedly Attacked ‘Like Animals’ by Security Forces
- Pres. Obama’s Remarks on Iran (video + transcript, English + Farsi)
- Guardian Council Opposed to Throwing Out Election Results
- Iran Using Western Technology to Spy on its Citizens, Suppress Dissent
- Iran’s Guardian Council Finds Ballots Cast Exceeded Number of Voters in 50 Cities
- Pres. Obama’s Statement on Iran (transcript)
- Larijani Says Majority Suspect Election Fraud; Rafsanjani Relative Detained
- Iran Says ‘Terrorists’ Caused Saturday Clashes; New Evidence of State Violence (UPDATED)
- Update on State Violence Against Demonstrators in Iran (video)
- Reports of Shots Fired at Iranian Demonstrators (video, links & updates)
- Khamene’i Demands End to Protests, Says Disputed Results Will Stand
- Open Letter from Iranian Academics to UN Sec. Gen. Ban Ki-moon
- UN Rights Chief Warns Iran not to Use Violence
- Iranian Dissident Leader Detained in Hospital ICU, Jailed without Charge
- Massive Opposition Rally in Tehran Mourns Slain Demonstrators (video)
- Iran Government Targets Press as More Demonstrations Planned (video)
- Rafsanjani Calls for Emergency Meeting of Assembly of Experts
- Pro-Mousavi Demonstrations & Iranians’ Constitutional Rights (video)
- Iran Opposition Movement Forces Khamenei to Investigate
- Iran Crackdown: Is it Tacit Admission Vote was Rigged?
- Iran Declares Ahmedinejad Winner, Results Widely Questioned as Fraudulent
- Rivals Ahmedinejad & Mousavi Both Declare Victory in Iran Election
- Iranian Polls Kept Open Several Hours Longer than Planned
- Iran Votes, with Popular Reformist Challenging Hardline Ahmedinejad
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