World urged to ignore Iran election results
International community urged not to accept re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
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Monday, 15, Jun 2009 03:08
The international community has been urged not to accept presidential election results in Iran.
Reporters Without Borders said any election that took place against a backdrop of censorship and a crackdown against journalists should not be recognised.
"A democratic election is one in which the media are free to monitor the electoral process and investigate fraud allegations but neither of these two conditions has been met for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's supposed re-election," the group said.
"We urge European countries not to recognise the results announced by the authorities as long as the media are not free to work. An election won by means of censorship and arrests of journalists is not democratic."
Reformist opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi had been expected to mount a serious challenge against Mr Ahmadinejad at the polls but official results gave the incumbent 62.63 per cent of the vote, sparking heated protests in Tehran.
Reporters Without Borders says that in the lead up to Friday's election:
- More than ten pro-opposition websites were censored
- Farsi-language pro-opposition stations were jammed
- Iran's mobile network was disrupted
- Journalists were detained
- Voice of America and BBC signals were interrupted
- Access to Facebook and YouTube was disrupted
Amnesty International UK has accused the Iranian political establishment of employing a "deliberate strategy" to ensure Mr Ahmadinejad's re-election.
It says that newspapers linked to other candidates had their offices occupied by security forces and were forced to work under supervision.
It also claimed on Monday that Mr Mousavi was informed confidentially by the interior ministry he had won the election two hours after polls closed on Friday.
But as he prepared a press conference to announce his victory his office was raided on a verbal order by the chief prosecutor of Tehran, while official results issued later gave Mr Ahmadinejad a heavy win.
In one of the most explicit international expressions of doubt in the results, Germany has summoned Iran's ambassador to explain the election and the crackdown on protests that followed.