Sahamnews, the website of reformist cleric Mehdi Karrubi’s Etemad Melli party, reports that Mohammad Davari, the jailed chief editor of the website, has been subjected to torture intended to force him to publicly cast doubt on Karrubi’s claims about the rape of postelection prisoners.

Sahamnews says Davari, who has been in jail for seven months, is in very poor physical and psychological condition. The website reports that he’s been allowed to meet with his mother briefly in jail only three times since his arrest.

The website claims the pressure on Davari to make a false statement and question Karrubi is “a new scenario by the ruling establishment” against the opposition leader.

After the postelection crackdown last summer, in which many opposition protesters were jailed, Karrubi said he had received reports from several detainees, including young men, who said they were sexually abused or raped in prison.

The report angered hard-liners, some of whom called for Karrubi’s prosecution for libeling the Islamic establishment.