World | Iran Iran: Protesters Were Tortured Prosecutor general blamed Basij, Revolutionary Guard for 'painful accidents' By Nick McMaster Posted Aug 9, 2009 11:00 AM CDT Copied Local staff member of the French Embassy in Tehran, Nazak Afshar, weeps at the court room in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2009. (AP Photo/ILNA, Hanif Shoaee) The Iranian prosecutor general admitted today that protesters arrested in the wake of the disputed presidential election were tortured, the New York Times reports. The comments by Qorbanali Dori-Najafabadi were the first official acknowledgments of torture made by an Iranian government official. Dori-Najafabadi blamed what he called a few “painful accidents” on the Basij militia and Revolutionary Guard, which made many of the arrests. The judiciary took charge of the arrest and detention of protesters last month and has since sought to humanize the treatment of prisoners, Dori-Najafabadi said. He called for those involved in torture “to be punished,” singling out in particular the “Kahrizak incident,” in which several detainees were killed at Kahrizak detention center in Tehran. Read These Next A game of doorbell ditch turns fatal for 11-year-old. Is India, under hefty tariffs, turning away from the US? Guy accused of snatching hat from boy at US Open IDed as rich CEO. At Colorado airport: collision, flames, death. Report an error