Iran hearings 'soon' on prisoner abuse

TEHRAN, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Military leaders in Iran plan to hold court hearings for jailers accused of abusing prisoners at Tehran's Kahrizak detention center, an Iranian lawmaker says.

Farhad Tajarri, a member of the Iranian parliament's special committee studying the conditions of detainees, told the semi-official Fars News Agency Wednesday the hearings would begin soon.

Former prisoners, including protesters arrested while demonstrating against the results of Iran's disputed presidential election in June, have claimed they were tortured in the prison by Tehran police, and that several detainees were killed.

"As head of the Iranian Armed Forces' Judicial Organization Hojjatoleslam Bahrami has told the media, the court hearing for addressing law violations by suspects in the Kahrizak case will be held in the near future," said Tajarri, who is also a member of the parliament's Judicial Commission.

Tajarri reportedly reiterated that the military court is the proper venue to probe the alleged prisoner abuse at Kahrizak, which was ordered closed by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the wake of the protests.