The number of criminal convictions for homosexual sex increased between 2005 and 2009, while the President even denied the existence of gay people in Iran. Issues with human rights and other problems, such as the alleged voting fraud, led Ahmadinejad's popularity to decline. This was especially the case in urban areas, including the country's capital Tehran, and among the youth, according to The Guardian. In 2009, the Iranian government held a regular presidential election. Former Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi was the most popular candidate opposing Ahmadinejad. The election took place on 12 June 2009 but the disagreement between the government and the opposition over the results of the election quickly caused a significant controversy. Ahmadinejad was considered to be winning in a landslide victory, but Mousavi and his supporters believed the results were fraudulent. They suggested that the Interior Minister Sadegh Mahsouli, an ally of Ahmadinejad, had interfered with the election and distorted the votes to keep Ahmadinejad in power. Mousavi claimed the victory and called for his supporters to celebrate it. At the same time, the office of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad almost immediately announced that the sitting president had won the election as he had received approximately two-thirds of votes. It sparked the 2009–2010 Iranian election protests, which were organized mostly by Mousavi's supporters and were directed against Ahmadinejad and the government in general. Protests Clashes broke out between police and groups protesting the election results from early morning on Saturday onward. Initially, the protests were largely peaceful. However, as time passed, they became increasingly violent. In a stand-off that later took place in north Tehran between supporters of Ahmadinejad and Mousavi, an angry throng of people broke into shops, started fires, and tore down signs. Civil unrest took place as riot police on motorbikes used batons to disperse Mousavi supporters who staged a sit-in near the interior ministry, where the results were announced. Up to 2,000 Mousavi supporters erected barricades of burning tyres and chanted "Mousavi take back our vote!". The demonstrations grew bigger and more heated than the 1999 student protests. Al Jazeera English described the 13 June situation as the "biggest unrest since the 1979 revolution." It also reported that protests seemed spontaneous without any formal organization. Two hundred people protested outside Iran's embassy in London on 13 June. Ynet has stated that "tens of thousands" protested on 13 June. Demonstrators are chanting phrases such as "Down