Motahari: The Issue of House Arrest Should Be on the Agenda of the Assembly of Experts

Ali Motahari, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, on Tuesday, March 6, in a letter to Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, the Chairman of the Assembly of Experts, requested that the issue of "house arrest" be placed on the agenda of the upcoming Assembly meeting this year and that "the grounds for addressing the accusations of all parties involved in the 2009 unrest" be prepared. His reference was to the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard, and Mehdi Karroubi. Mr. Mousavi and Mr. Karroubi, leaders of the protesters against the results of the 2009 presidential election, along with Ms. Rahnavard, have been under house arrest since February 2011. According to ILNA news agency, Mr. Motahari noted in this letter that the issue of house arrest "contradicts Articles 32 to 37 of the Constitution" and added that the slogans of participants at the funeral of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the former head of the Expediency Discernment Council, on January 12, had a "clear message for officials." At this ceremony, some participants chanted slogans in support of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Mohammad Khatami, to the extent that Iranian state television cut the sound of the crowd in its news footage. Recently, thousands, including several political, social, and civil activists in Iran, simultaneously marked the sixth anniversary of the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard, and Mehdi Karroubi with an open letter addressed to the leaders of the three branches of government, parliament representatives, and other officials, demanding an end to their house arrest. According to ISNA news agency, Ali Motahari had previously, on February 19, written a letter to Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the Tehran prosecutor, criticizing his remarks regarding the house arrest of the leaders of the 2009 election protests based on a "national decision," stating in his letter that this decision should not contradict the Constitution. The Deputy Speaker of Parliament also called for the implementation of justice and emphasized that "if there is to be repentance and apology, all parties involved in the events of 2009 should do so, and if there is to be prosecution, all parties should be tried simultaneously in a competent public court, even though the severity of their charges is not the same." Mr. Motahari has repeatedly called for the lifting of the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi or their simultaneous trial with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He had also previously reported that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, had opposed his request for the trial of the Green Movement leaders, stating that their verdict would be "heavy" if tried. Earlier, one member of parliament had said that "with Ali Motahari's tireless follow-ups, good news about the house arrest of the Green Movement leaders would be published before the New Year." The Tehran prosecutor had stated on February 15 that "the house arrest is a national decision and many competent authorities were involved in this decision." Meanwhile, no court has been held regarding the accusations against Mir Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard, and Mehdi Karroubi. In this context, Mohammad Reza Bahonar, the head of the Front of Followers of the Line of Imam and Leadership, one of the principlist organizations, said on Sunday, March 5, to the "Entekhab" website: "The issue of Mousavi and Karroubi has been resolved, and they should remain under house arrest." He did not mention who or what authority made such a decision, adding: "The same leaders of the unrest who are now under house arrest are now treated gently by the system, and if there is to be a trial, there are many unspeakable things and things that can be said." Meanwhile, Mehdi Karroubi has repeatedly called for a public trial; a request that has remained unanswered. In this regard, the newspaper Etemad reported on Sunday that Gholamreza Mesbahi Moghadam, the spokesman for the Combatant Clergy Association, criticized the leaders of the 2009 election protests in a debate with Mohammad Reza Khatami, the former secretary-general of the Participation Front, at Tarbiat Modares University in Tehran, stating that they "did not bow to the law." He added: "The 2009 unrest was the result of some people's violations against the law." Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, and his supporters refer to the protests against the 2009 election results as "sedition" and call Mr. Mousavi and Mr. Karroubi the "leaders of the sedition." According to Etemad, the spokesman for the Combatant Clergy Association also stated that the leaders of the protests should "confess to their mistakes" and added: "If insistence continues and a trial occurs and the detainees are punished, chaos will erupt in society again, which is not in our favor." Gholamreza Mesbahi Moghadam, without explaining this "chaos," added that "world media say that the government has punished its presidential candidate, and this is disgraceful for our government." In contrast, Mohammad Reza Khatami, referring to his knowledge of the "detainees," said that "I know they are not afraid of any punishment that may be issued" and added: "It is good that this issue ends somewhere. If punishment is not advisable, the house arrest can be lifted."