Motahari's Response to Judiciary: The Content of My Letter Cannot Be Denied

Ali Motahari, a representative from Tehran in the parliament, emphasized that his statements regarding the Chief Justice's remarks about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's request to lift the house arrest of the Green Movement leaders are "documented and there is a tape of it." According to the House of Representatives news agency, affiliated with the Islamic Consultative Assembly, Mr. Motahari said on Wednesday, January 17, that Sadegh Amoli Larijani, the Chief Justice, had mentioned three years ago in a gathering of several parliament members about "two letters" from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad regarding the "lifting of the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi." He also stated that there is a "file and tape" of the Chief Justice's meeting with these parliament members. On Sunday, January 14, in an open letter to the Chief Justice, he referred to the "Supreme National Security Council's resolution regarding the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Karroubi" and wrote: "The signature of this resolution by the then head of the Supreme National Security Council, Mr. Ahmadinejad, who, according to your own statements, wrote letters twice for the freedom of the detainees, is questionable." According to the Judiciary's public relations office, Sadegh Amoli Larijani, in response to him on Tuesday, January 16, denied Mr. Motahari's statements about Ahmadinejad's letter regarding lifting the house arrest and expressed ignorance while deeming the existence of this letter "unlikely." The General Directorate of Public Relations of the Iranian Judiciary also considered Mr. Motahari's letter to fall under the "criminal title of spreading falsehoods" and accused this parliament member of being unaware of "the laws and the position of the Supreme National Security Council in the Islamic Republic of Iran." On Wednesday, in response to the Judiciary's announcement, Mr. Motahari said: "What I have written in my letter is based on the Constitution and is a reasoned discussion that does not allow for denial or confirmation or legal prosecution." He added: "What is stated in that [letter] emphasizes the law's insistence on forming a competent court and informing individuals of the charges, and I have focused on this issue in my letter." The Chief Justice of Iran had stated on Wednesday, January 10, that the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi was "legal" and in accordance with the defined duties in Article 176 of the Constitution for the Supreme National Security Council. Ali Motahari emphasized in his letter to the Chief Justice that issues such as the house arrest of individuals are not defined within the duties of the Supreme National Security Council in Article 176 of the Constitution. Mir Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard, and Mehdi Karroubi have been under house arrest without trial since February 2011 based on a resolution from the Supreme National Security Council. Ali Motahari has repeatedly called for the lifting of the house arrest or trial of the leaders protesting the results of the 2009 election alongside Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as another of the causes of the events following the 2009 election. Mehdi Karroubi has requested in a message from Ali Motahari, the Tehran representative, to pursue the "right" to a trial and to provide the "necessary preparations for holding a public court." Mr. Motahari stated on July 8 that during a meeting with Ayatollah Khamenei, he heard that "the crime of Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi is great" and that Khamenei told him that if these two were tried, a "very heavy sentence" awaited them. In this context, Ali Motahari's open letter to the Chief Justice regarding house arrest has been taken offline. 230 parliament members deemed the house arrest of the Green Movement leaders as "legal." The Iranian Judiciary accused Ali Motahari of "spreading falsehoods."