Motahari Protests Again Against the House Arrest of Mousavi and Karroubi

Ali Motahari, a representative from Tehran in the Parliament, once again protested against the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, emphasizing that even the Prophet of Islam could not decree that someone be held in detention without trial. According to the AANA news agency, affiliated with Azad University, Mr. Motahari stated on Tuesday, August 16, in a speech that 'if the issue of house arrest is not resolved, this type of behavior will gradually become a norm.' He added, 'Perhaps if Mr. Mousavi and Karroubi had protested against the house arrest of Mr. Montazeri, this calamity would not have befallen them.' The Tehran representative again called for the trial of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and also 'some institutions' that, according to him, played a role in the protests against the 2009 presidential election. He also mentioned that the Islamic Republic was caught off guard by the protests regarding the results of the 2009 presidential election and 'had no plan for such a day.' Ali Motahari has previously protested against the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Zahra Rahnavard, who have been under house arrest without trial since February 2011. He had previously stated in November 2014 at Mashhad University, referring to the Supreme Leader's opinion about the lack of trial for Mr. Mousavi and Karroubi, that 'even the Prophet of Islam cannot say that a person's sentence is heavy and issue a ruling without trial and hearing their defenses.' Mr. Motahari also quoted the Supreme Leader in July 2014 as saying that the 'crime' of Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi is 'very serious' and that if they were tried, a 'heavy sentence' would await them. 'The Supreme National Security Council should not replace the Parliament and the judiciary,' Mr. Motahari stated, adding that the Supreme National Security Council cannot replace the Parliament in reviewing the Vienna nuclear agreement, just as it cannot replace the judiciary in the matter of the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Zahra Rahnavard. The debate over which institution should turn the nuclear agreement into a legal statute in Iran has become a point of contention among various groups within the Iranian government. While Hassan Rouhani's government insists that the Islamic Consultative Assembly should not intervene in this matter, some clerics and prominent principlists, including Ahmad Jannati, the Secretary of the Guardian Council, and Mohammad Yazdi, the Chairman of the Assembly of Experts, have called for the agreement to be reviewed in Parliament. The Tehran representative also mentioned that 'some believe that since the Supreme Leader is at the head of affairs, no injustice occurs, and if someone says that injustice has occurred, they are fighting against the system.' He added, 'Wasn't there the case of Sattar Beheshti in this very system, who... died in detention due to beatings and pressure for writing on a blog that officials admitted had very few views?' Mr. Motahari had also previously asked the Minister of Interior in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government to apologize to Sattar Beheshti's family during a public session of Parliament. The request by Mr. Motahari for the lifting of the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi has repeatedly provoked protests from supporters of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran. On January 11, 2015, the 'attack' by some members of Parliament on Mr. Motahari and the physical altercation following his renewed request for the lifting of the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Karroubi during a speech caused a temporary suspension of the Parliament session. Mr. Motahari was also attacked by plainclothes forces at the airport while traveling to Shiraz for a speech on March 9, 2015, and was ultimately forced to return to Tehran. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the second session of the court for the attackers of Ali Motahari was held in Shiraz. Ali Motahari's lawyer reported after this session that the two court sessions had only been spent on 'taking statements' from three officials of Shiraz University, but the charges against eight individuals who are said to be the 'main assailants' of Mr. Motahari have not yet been addressed. According to the state news agency IRNA, Mostafa Torkhamdani expressed hope that in the next court session, which will be held on October 7, the statements of the 'main assailants' would be taken. Mr. Torkhamdani had previously stated that the first court session for the eight attackers of Ali Motahari, held on August 4, included statements from two university officials and one student. He had reported on June 19 that the president and vice president of Shiraz University and the 'inviting student' of Mr. Motahari to speak in Shiraz are also among the accused. Previously, Mohammad Ahmadi, the former governor of Fars, had accused Shiraz University officials of ignoring the resolution of the city's security council, but Ali Motahari denied in a letter to Hossein Zolfaqari, the security deputy of the Minister of Interior, the claims made about the 'security council' resolution in opposition to his speech. Mr. Motahari has also repeatedly implied that some of his attackers are affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.