Defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi says opposition¹ detainees put on trial have been subjected to "medieval torture".

败北的伊朗总统竞选候选人Mir Hossein Mousavi称在野党被拘留的人被法庭判以“中世纪的折磨”。

Mousavi said detainees had been forced to confess to crimes

He denounced（告发，公然抨击） the trials, which started on Saturday, as fraudulent（欺诈的，不正的） and said the prisoners had been forced to confess.

Earlier, ex-President Mohammad Khatami said the hearings were "show trials" that would harm the establishment.

The comments came ahead of a ceremony to endorse² Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the winner of June's presidential election.

More than 100 people have been put on trial on charges including conspiracy³（阴谋）.

Ten more people were brought before the court on Sunday, reports said.

The detainees, all held in the wake of the disputed elections on 12 June, include several leading reformers. Some are accused of rioting and vandalism（故意破坏）, as well as the more serious conspiracy charges.

They were among thousands of Iranians who rejected the official declaration that Mr Ahmadinejad had won the election.

On Monday, Supreme⁴ Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is due to officially endorse Mr Ahmadinejad as the winner of the vote.

He will be formally sworn in on Wednesday.

The BBC's John Leyne says that once the president is sworn in, his challenge will be to assemble a credible⁵ team of ministers that will be endorsed⁶ by parliament.

Mr Khatami, in comments on his website, expressed hope that Saturday's trial would not "lead to ignorance of the real crimes", the Associated Press reports.

The AFP news agency quotes Mr Khatami, who was president from 1997 to 2005, as making more outspoken⁷ criticism of the trial.

"What was done yesterday is against the constitution, regular laws and rights of the citizens," his office quoted him as saying.

Mr Mousavi's comments went even further, accusing the authorities of forcing the detainees to confess to the crimes.

"The teeth of the torturers and confession-extorters have reached to the bones of the people," he said.

"Witnessing such trumped-up（捏造的，伪造的） trials, the only judgment⁸ that the conscience of humanity can make is the moral collapse⁹ and discredit¹⁰ of its directors."

Mohsen Rezai, the only conservative to have challenged Mr Ahmadinejad in the election, also criticised the trial, saying people who had attacked the protesters should also be put on trial.

Earlier Fars news agency reported that a group of Iranian MPs had filed a complaint against Mr Mousavi several weeks ago, calling for him to be put on trial for "directing recent riots".

Hardliner Mohammad Taghi Rahba said Mr Mousavi and Mr Khatami were the main culprits（犯人，罪犯） behind the unrest.

Key defendants¹¹

At Saturday's trial, defendants in prison uniforms were seated flanked（侧面） by guards.

They included supporters of opposition leaders Mr Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, and aides of Mr Khatami.

The semi-official Fars news agency reported that former deputy foreign minister Mohsen Aminzadeh, former government spokesman Abdollah Ramazanzadeh, former senior lawmaker Mohsen Mirdamadi and former Industry Minister Behzad Nabavi were among those on trial.

The BBC's Kasra Naji says the timing¹² and scale of the trial came as a surprise and suggests Iran's leadership wants to send a message to stop any more protests.

Foreign media, including the BBC, have been restricted in their coverage¹³ of Iran since the election protests turned into confrontations¹⁴ with the authorities in which at least 30 people were killed.

Opposition groups alleged¹⁵ widespread vote-rigging. Post-election protests saw the largest mass demonstrations¹⁶ in Iran since the 1979 revolution, which brought about the current Islamic system of government.