Oct 31, 2006Articles: Dishonourable honour - by Peter Tatchell
By VZ
(UNITED KINGDOM) - The former President of the Islamist dictatorship of Iran, Mohammad Khatami, will today be awarded an honorary doctorate of law by St Andrews University in Scotland. Critics say it is the moral equivalent of honouring Chilean ex-dictator Augusto Pinochet. During his eight-year tenure as President of Iran, from 1997 to 2004, thousands of Iranians were detained without trial and subjected to savage tortures by Iran's secret police. Over 200 people were executed. Yesterday, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Iain Blair, and the Attorney-General, Lord Goldsmith, turned down requests for Khatami's arrest. The police were presented with affidavits by two Iranian refugees who say they were falsely imprisoned and brutally tortured while Khatami was in office. Safa Einollahi, 29, and Ali Ebrahimi, 34, claim that, as President, Khatami was ultimately responsible for their torture. He failed to use his office of state to protect them and thousands of other torture victims.
