Tehran mayor challenges judge to produce evidence of graft

AFSHIN VALINEJAD Associated Press Writer
AP Online
06-11-1998
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) _ Tehran's reformist mayor, on trial for alleged corruption, boldly challenged a judge in court Thursday to produce evidence that he embezzled municipal funds. 

Gholamhossein Karbaschi, who pleaded innocent when his trial opened Sunday, then told a packed courtroom he never pocketed a penny of public money. 

Karbaschi was accused by the judge of embezzling money to buy a building for a now-defunct newspaper he edited. 

``If I am a thief, say it. If I have received bribes, say from whom I received them ... Sir, if I am a thief, please tell me where I stole from,'' …