Presiding over Parliament during the 2009 crackdown: denying prison rapes, the Kahrizak probe and calling for maximum punishment
Ali Larijani was Speaker of Parliament during the 2009 post-election protests. Outlets reported that he dismissed Mehdi Karroubi's allegations of rape in Kahrizak and Evin as 'totally baseless', demanded 'maximum punishment' for protesters after Ashura 2009, and oversaw a parliamentary probe that confirmed deadly beatings at Kahrizak under Saeed Mortazavi while denying sexual assault.
Editorial timeline of public reporting, not a legal finding.
- Larijani dismisses Karroubi's letter on sexual abuse of detainees as 'totally baseless' - BBC Persian and BBC News reported that after presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi wrote to Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani seeking an inquiry into reports that young male and female detainees had been raped in custody, Speaker Larijani announced on August 12, 2009 that parliamentary investigations at Kahrizak and Evin prisons had found no sexual abuse and that such claims were 'totally baseless'. He said mistakes had occurred at Kahrizak 'but not at all of this kind' and warned politicians against taking claims to the media. لاریجانی: آزار جنسی بازداشت شدگان کذب است
- Parliamentary committee again rejects rape claims as reformist MPs criticize delays in the Kahrizak report - BBC Persian and Reuters reported that after Karroubi urged Larijani to examine his evidence rather than issue denials, six MPs from Larijani's special committee met Karroubi on August 23, where he offered to introduce four abused detainees if their safety was guaranteed; the next day committee member Farhad Tajari told state media the claims were 'baseless'. In October 2009, reformist MPs met Larijani and criticized the delay in reading the committee's report on the Kahrizak deaths. Iran MP says no post-vote detainees raped in jail
- Larijani demands 'maximum punishment' for Ashura protesters and warns opposition leaders - BBC Persian and Radio Farda reported that two days after deadly clashes on Ashura (December 27, 2009), Larijani told an open session of Parliament that protesters who chanted against clerical rule had 'practically started a war with God and the Wali of God' (@khamenei_fa). He called on the Intelligence Ministry, Interior Ministry and judiciary to arrest and impose 'maximum punishment without any leniency' on 'insulters of religion' and warned opposition leaders to separate themselves from what he called an 'ugly current'. واکنش تند مجلس ایران به وقایع روز عاشورا
- Kahrizak report read in Parliament confirms deadly beatings on Mortazavi's orders while denying rape - The Guardian and BBC Persian reported that on January 10, 2010 the parliamentary committee appointed by Larijani read its report in open session, confirming that 147 protesters arrested on July 9, 2009 were sent to Kahrizak on the orders of Tehran prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi despite available space at Evin, and that four days in a 70-square-meter room and physical beatings killed at least three detainees. The report still 'strongly rejected' any rape or sexual assault; Mortazavi, by then deputy to Prosecutor General Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei (@ejei_org), wrote to Larijani claiming he had been on leave. Iran's parliament exposes abuse of opposition prisoners at Tehran jail
- MPs chant for the execution of Mousavi and Karroubi as Larijani forms an 'anti-revolutionary' probe committee - Radio Farda, Reuters and BBC Persian reported that on February 15, 2011, a day after protests and the start of house arrest for Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, MPs in a session chaired by Larijani chanted 'Death to Mousavi, Karroubi and Khatami' and 'Karroubi and Mousavi must be executed', while 223 lawmakers signed a statement demanding their 'maximum punishment'. Larijani called the rally 'artificial and American' and 'like demonstrations against Islam and the Prophet', and formed a special committee that declared Mousavi and Karroubi 'traitors'. شعار «مرگ بر موسوی و کروبی و خاتمی» در مجلس