The trial of judiciary officials in the case of detainee deaths at the Kahrizak Detention Centre began its seventh session today, Tuesday May 7.
Reports indicate that the head of Tehran Province Prisons and four other suspects in the case gave testimony today.
Mohammad Saelh Nikbakht, the defence lawyer for Amir Javadifars, a relative of one of the Kahrizak detainees who died under torture in the detention centre, told reporters after the session: “The final arguments from the suspects have not been delivered yet.”
Nikbakht told reporters that Saeed Mortazavi, the former Tehran prosecutor and chief suspect in the case, had urged the court to prevent the defence attorney from talking to the media.
None of the participants in the trial spoke to the media except for the father of another deceased victim, Mohammad Kamrani. He told reporters that the head of prisons testified that the Kahrizak Detention Centre was not a legal facility.
He also told reporters that when the head of prisons was asked if the detainees in question were transferred to Kahrizak due to a lack of space at Evin Prison, he refrained from answering.
The court’s next session will take place on May 13.
The Kahrizak case broke into headlines during the widespread street protests that followed the presidential election of 2009, which was marred by allegations of vote fraud. A group of protesters was transferred to Kahrizak from Tehran and subjected to severe torture. The centre was closed after reports of the death of three detainees under torture hit the media.
The Tehran prosecutor at the time and his assistant have been charged in the case along with a judge.
