Tehran - The leader of Iranian opposition party Etemad Melli called Wednesday for a meeting with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani over alleged rapes in Tehran prisons. In a letter to Larijani, carried by the party's website, Mehdi Karroubi asked to meet with the heads of the executive, judiciary and legislative powers to present documented proof of the rapes.
Karroubi last week denounced the sexual abuse allegedly suffered by political prisoners arrested and detained following protests over the flawed June 12 presidential election.
Karroubi quoted released detainees as saying that some of the young women and men had been so brutally raped in jail that their genitals were torn.
The government and parliament, including Larijani, categorically denied the charges and even threatened Karroubi with legal consequences if he could not prove the rape charges.
Several conservative officials have asked for Karroubi to be prosecuted for making the allegations.
Karroubi said he would not be intimidated by threats and would continue until those involved in the rapes were identified.
Fellow opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi joined Karrubi in accusing "agents of the regime" of sexual abuse in Tehran prisons.
