Users' Concerns Over 70 Days of 'Excruciating Pressure for Confession' on Amirhossein Mousavi

Following 70 days of uncertainty regarding the status of Amirhossein Mousavi, a detained media activist known by the username 'James Bedin' on the social media platform 'X', users on this platform launched a virtual storm to support him. Reza Shafakhah, Amirhossein Mousavi's lawyer, told Voice of America that judicial agents have used his account on X to identify other users during the two weeks of uncertainty surrounding the detention of 'James Bedin'. Social media users, especially on X, emphasized the more than 70 days of ignorance regarding Amirhossein Mousavi's situation on Monday, writing about him in a virtual storm and demanding information about his status. Shahin Najafi, a protesting artist, emphasized that Amirhossein Mousavi is 'in the path of freedom for Iran, imprisoned by the criminals of the Islamic Republic.' Saeed Ghasemi-Nejad, a senior researcher at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, also stated, 'Amirhossein Mousavi has been in detention for over two months. Such long-term detentions usually mean excruciating pressure on the prisoner to extract confessions.' According to Mr. Ghasemi-Nejad, 'It is the duty of human rights organizations to speak about the prisoner to increase the cost of these pressures for the Islamic Republic and reduce the pressure on the prisoner.' Ebrahim Allahbakhshi, a human rights activist, also emphasized, 'They have imprisoned Amirhossein Mousavi, but thoughts and freedom cannot be chained.' He referred to Mr. Mousavi as 'a young man who was imprisoned for his freedom' and added, 'But he will not be forgotten; let us be his voice until the day of his freedom.' The detention of Mr. Mousavi, a protesting citizen in Iran who operated under a pseudonym on social media, has drawn attention from other users with pseudonyms as well; one of these users wrote on X, 'I am also an anonymous account, like Amirhossein Mousavi. If one day I fall into the hands of Zahhak, I want you to remember my name. Our unity is our weapon.' Another anonymous user, recalling an experience from the widespread protests of 2022, said, 'I wrote in my own language and saw that James had written too. I told him it feels interesting that we probably passed by each other and shouted slogans. He was excited and said, 'Max, one day soon we will come out of anonymity and celebrate freedom!' He praised Amirhossein Mousavi's 'pragmatism' and 'courage' and expressed hope that they would hold the 'freedom celebration' 'together'. Mehrz, another anonymous user on X with thousands of followers, also honored the memory of Amirhossein Mousavi alongside Ali Aghl and Arasham Rezaei, two other political prisoners. Another prominent user on X emphasized the 'loneliness' of anonymous accounts on social media, stating that when they 'are active, they are always viewed with suspicion that they might be cyber agents, and when they are arrested, no one knows what has happened to them.' He stated, 'Each of us could have been in Amirhossein's place,' adding, 'Let us be his voice, for he has no one but us.' Another anonymous user on X criticized those who label anonymous users, saying, 'If he were here now, they would call him cyber and fake; but for over 70 days, he has been tortured simply for writing and fighting for the freedom of Iran.' Amirhossein Mousavi, a civil activist, was arrested on December 19 while he intended to go with his wife, Shabnam Hosseinzadeh, 'to a house they had recently rented on Kish Island' by government agents at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport. Last week, Reza Shafakhah, Amirhossein Mousavi's lawyer, told the Persian section of Voice of America that officials had arrested at least eight other activists by accessing his client's social media account and continuing to operate it. Mr. Shafakhah emphasized that Amirhossein Mousavi's case remains 'pending in the prosecutor's office,' and despite two months passing, judicial officials say 'the investigations are not complete.'