Motahari Criticizes Judiciary Again Regarding the House Arrest of Green Movement Leaders

Ali Motahari, a representative from Tehran in the parliament, reiterated the necessity of lifting the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, leaders of the Green Movement, and called for the judiciary to "close" the case of the protests against the results of the 2009 presidential election, stating that the judiciary has "failed" in this regard. In another part of his speech, he mentioned that "many of the confessions of those involved in the events of 2009 were not obtained under normal conditions." According to Mehr News Agency, Mr. Motahari, speaking on Tuesday evening, May 21, at Zanjan University, stated: "Our point is why the judiciary does not close the case of the 2009 events and prolongs it." He added: "We oppose not allowing a critic to speak and keeping them under house arrest without giving them a chance to defend themselves." The Tehran representative emphasized: "We should not incur costs from the leadership in every matter; here, the judiciary has fallen short." He also noted that "the leadership intervenes in cases where we have reached a deadlock, while in the events of 2009, the law had already defined the course." Ali Motahari has repeatedly called for the lifting of the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, two candidates who contested the results of the 2009 presidential election. In this context, he stated on July 8, 2014, that in a meeting with Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader described the crimes of Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi as significant and indicated that if they were tried, "a very heavy sentence" awaited them. In December 2014, he mentioned at Mashhad University that he was not convinced by the Supreme Leader's statements and insisted that house arrest without a judicial ruling is "oppression." On January 21, 2015, an "attack" by some parliament representatives on Mr. Motahari and a physical altercation following his renewed request for lifting the house arrest of Mousavi and Karroubi during a speech led to a temporary suspension of the parliament session. Mr. Motahari also faced an assault by plainclothes forces at Shiraz Airport on March 9, 2015, while traveling to give a speech at Shiraz University, forcing him to return to Tehran. In his remarks on Tuesday, he emphasized: "I oppose the trend that has emerged in the Islamic Republic system of placing critics under house arrest." He added: "My discussion is not about these two individuals; if they had protested when Mr. Montazeri was under house arrest, their situation would not be like this now." This parliament representative stated: "Unfortunately, a trend has emerged in the Islamic Republic system where we place some critics under house arrest, depriving them of social rights, not allowing them to speak or defend themselves, and if they have committed a crime, they should be tried, and if not, they should be freed." Mr. Motahari emphasized that if a punishment is to be considered for Mir Hossein Mousavi and Karroubi, they should be tried. Mir Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard, and Mehdi Karroubi, the leaders of the protests against the 2009 presidential election, have been under house arrest without trial since February 2010. Mehdi Karroubi had previously requested Mr. Motahari to "pursue the right" of due process and to provide "the necessary arrangements for holding a public trial." Mr. Motahari further stated that "many of the confessions of those involved in the events of 2009 were not obtained under normal conditions." He added: "Some political prisoners like Tajzadeh were arrested a day before the 2009 election, and their only crime can be considered their presence in the campaign of a certain candidate." According to ISNA, Mr. Motahari stated: "Some prisoners had no role in the events of 2009, but simply because they have reformist thoughts or were active during the reform period, they are in prison, and I personally do not understand what their crime is." Previously, several reformist political prisoners had announced that their arrest warrants were issued before the 2009 presidential election. For instance, Behzad Nabavi, a prominent member of the Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization, stated during his leave from prison in 2009 that his arrest warrant and that of several other political activists were issued before the presidential election by the order of "an intelligence agency."