Jalili Describes the House Arrest of Green Movement Leaders as a 'New Sedition'

After nearly four years of house arrest for Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, Saeed Jalili, former Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, cited their attempts to 'shape' a 'new sedition' as the reason for their confinement, stating that this house arrest is 'not related' to the protests over the results of the 2009 presidential election. In response to Tehran representative Ali Motahari's call for the trial of Mousavi and Karroubi, Jalili referred to their lack of prosecution as a 'wise strategy' by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. According to Mehr News Agency, Jalili stated on Tuesday, December 2, at Ferdowsi University in Mashhad: 'The house arrest has nothing to do with sedition; sedition began on June 12, 2009, and lasted until February 11 of that year.' He added: 'During this time, no one bothered those referred to as the leaders of sedition, and they were placed under house arrest on February 25, 2011, meaning one year and eight months after the sedition, and the reason was that they were in the process of forming a new sedition.' Ayatollah Khamenei and his close associates refer to the protests against the 2009 presidential election results as 'sedition' and label Mousavi, Karroubi, and sometimes Mohammad Khatami as the leaders of this 'sedition.' After Mousavi and Karroubi called for a rally in support of the people of Egypt and Tunisia on February 25, 2011, tens of thousands demonstrated in Tehran and other cities in Iran, which were also suppressed by security forces. A few days after this rally, Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard, and Karroubi, along with Karroubi's wife, were imprisoned in their homes, and since then they have been under house arrest without trial. Karroubi's wife was released after some time. This is the first time Jalili, as one of the individuals involved in the house arrest of the Green Movement leaders, has attempted to explain the reason for their confinement while mentioning a 'new sedition.' Jalili's statements about the house arrest of Mousavi and Karroubi being unrelated to the protests over the 2009 presidential election come despite previous claims from Khamenei's associates that their house arrest was due to calls for protests. For instance, Ahmad Alamolhoda, the Friday prayer leader of Mashhad, stated on Wednesday evening, December 5, that Mousavi and Karroubi were responsible for the deaths of 23 individuals on June 25, 2009, due to their call for a protest rally. Jalili continued his remarks about the house arrest of Mousavi and Karroubi, saying: 'Some people ask why they are not being tried; this was one of the wise strategies of the leadership, which stated that let the issues become clear to the people.' He emphasized: 'The house arrest has nothing to do with the election; in the statements they issued during that period, they even mocked Iran for sending a living creature and in some other statements claimed that the votes were false.' Ali Motahari, a representative from Tehran, stated on Sunday, July 8, that during a meeting with the Supreme Leader, Khamenei told him that the 'crime' of Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi is 'very serious' and that a 'heavy sentence' awaits them if they are tried. Motahari recently emphasized at Ferdowsi University that he is not convinced by the Supreme Leader's statements and still insists that house arrest without a judicial order is 'oppression.' He stated that 'even the Prophet of Islam cannot say that the sentence for a certain individual is heavy and issue a verdict without trial and hearing their defense.' On Saturday, December 8, the Saham News website reported that the family of Mehdi Karroubi has asked Ali Motahari to advocate for Karroubi's 'right' to a trial and to prepare 'the necessary arrangements for holding a public court' for him. In this regard, the Rouhani government has 'no authority' to lift the house arrest of Mousavi and Karroubi. Alamolhoda: The Assembly of Experts has no oversight over the leadership and its subordinate institutions. Criticism of the continued house arrest has caught the 'justice' of the leader in its net.