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Iran Guardian Council certifies contested election results

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Iran's Guardian Council of the Constitution on Monday certified the results of the controversial June 12 presidential election, officially sanctioning the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The certification comes a week after the Council rejected protesters' requests to abandon the results and start over after a partial recount ordered by the country's spiritual leader and highest authority, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, showed no irregularities in Ahmadinejad's overwhelming victory. The investigation concluded that any minor inconsistencies would not have resulted in victory for reform candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. Monday also marks the end of the period declared by Khamenei during which opposition candidates could submit additional complaints about the election. Supporters of Mousavi and other opposition candidates protested in Tehran and elsewhere after Ahmadinejad's victory, reportedly resulting in at least 17 deaths and hundreds of arrests. Authorities stated that those arrested would be dealt with by the court system. Human rights groups have viewed the arrests as political repression, saying that Iranian forces are using the protests to "engage in what appears to be a major purge of reform-oriented individuals." Amnesty International called for authorities to respect and nurture debate Thursday, stressing that "healthy debate on issues of fundamental importance to peoples' lives" informs, rather than threatens, policy makers."

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on June 29, 2009 (boomark / email).