Iran - elections

Twenty killed in post-election violence

Article published on the 2009-07-01 Latest update 2009-07-01 10:16 TU

Demonstrators hold a placard of Neda Agha-Soltan, a woman who was killed during post-election protests in Iran
(Photo: Reuters/Christian Hartmann)

Twenty people were killed and over 1,000 were arrested during post-election protests in Iran, according to the country’s police chief. The news emerged as Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cancelled an appearance at an African Union summit in Libya on Wednesday.

"No policeman was killed in the Tehran riots but 20 rioters were killed," police chief Ahmadi Moghaddam told the Fars news agency.

"Police arrested 1,032 people in the recent riots. Many have been released and the rest are being prosecuted in Tehran's public and revolutionary courts,” he added.

No reason was given for the decision to cancel Ahmadinejad’s visit to Sirte in Libya, where he was set to address an African Union summit.

Meanwhile, the Etemad Melli website reports that a reformist party’s newspaper has been suppressed by the government.

The party said the Culture Ministry wanted to censor a statement in its newspaper. In the statement, defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi said the government that emerged from the 12 June elections was not legitimate.

The Etemad Melli newspaper is one of few reformist publications to have survived a crackdown under Ahmadinejad’s rule. However, its editor Mohammad Ghoochani was among a number of journalists detained following the disputed election.