December 13, 2016\u2014The Judiciary should carry out its latest \u201cpromise\u2014or threat\u201d to put former presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi, who has been under extrajudicial house arrest since 2011, on trial, said his son Mohammad Taghi Karroubi.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think my father has always wisely welcomed a trial because he wants history to record the fact that the leaders of the Green Movement were not afraid of being tried,\u201d said Mohammad Taghi Karroubi in an interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran on December 8, 2016. \u201cHe has no fear of going to trial\u2026 as the Persian saying goes, \u2018let their shame be exposed.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The Campaign fully supports this call for a public trial, and urges all members of the international community to register their strong and vocal support for the right to an immediate, fair and public trial of Mehdi Karroubi, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard, Green Movement leaders who have been under house arrest without charge for nearly six years.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor far too long this utter travesty of justice has been allowed to continue,\u201d said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the Campaign. \u201cWe should not remain silent in the face of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are the authorities in Iran so afraid of?\u201d asked Ghaemi. \u201cAn airing of the violent suppression of peaceful protests in 2009, from which these house arrests arose? Or the fact that a public trial would show that citizens in Iran can be effectively imprisoned for six years, without charge or trial, on baseless grounds with impunity?\u201d<\/p>\n
On December 7, Mohammad Taghi Karroubi passionately responded in a public Facebook post<\/a> to Judiciary Spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei\u2019s suggestion that Medhi Karroubi could finally be tried.<\/p>\n \u201cSince the 2009 crisis [a reference to the widespread protests that followed the disputed election results which handed then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a second term], my father has directly and indirectly asked 11 times to be put on trial based on Article 168 of the Constitution,\u201d he\u00a0wrote<\/a>. \u201cFor the umpteenth time my father asks [Ejei] to definitely act on this promise\u2014or threat.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c[My father] has always been ready to face trial, but unfortunately the Islamic Republic has preferred to continue its unlawful behavior and [President] Hassan Rouhani\u2019s government has not taken any steps in this regard to carry out its duty in defending the\u00a0Constitution<\/a>,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Mohammad Taghi Karroubi also quoted a message from his father addressing the Judiciary: \u201cAsk the people to pray for [judicial officials] so they could gain the courage to try me in an open court and reveal who committed crimes,\u201d said Mehdi Karroubi. \u201cWas it us with our civil protests? Or was it those who dragged down the country and the revolution for short-sighted gains?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThese six years under house arrest have brought very serious harm to my father,\u201d Mohammad Taghi Karroubi told the Campaign. \u201cHe has undergone six operations. Just a few weeks ago he had spinal disc problems, which fortunately improved after total rest and doctor\u2019s care.\u201d<\/p>\n Conservative MP Urges End to Deadlock<\/strong><\/p>\n Mehdi Karroubi, former presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, and Green Movement leader Zahra Rahnavard who is also Mousavi\u2019s wife, have been forcibly detained under extrajudicial house arrest since 2011 for publicly disputing the results of Iran\u2019s 2009 presidential election.<\/p>\n Ejei\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0on December 6, 2016 that the Judiciary was prepared to put the three on trial for \u201ccrimes\u201d in connection with the Green Movement, which grew out of the protests against the results of that election\u2014if the Supreme National Security Council agrees.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Council\u2019s order [to put them under house arrest] still stands, but if it decides to change its decision and put the leaders of the sedition on trial, the Judiciary is prepared to do so because we believe they have committed crimes that they should be prosecuted for,\u201d he said. (Hardliners in Iran continue to refer to the 2009 election protests as the \u201csedition.\u201d)<\/p>\n During a speech at Amir Kabir University on Students Day, Ali Motahhari, the conservative deputy speaker of Parliament,\u00a0spoke<\/a>\u00a0of behind-the-scenes efforts to mediate between the Green Movement leaders and Iran\u2019s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, who has demanded that they repent before they can be freed.<\/p>\n Motahhari, who has been the most vocal conservative supporter of ending the extrajudicial house arrests, added that\u00a0despite Khamenei\u2019s wish, members of Parliament have a duty to end the deadlock \u201cin the interest of national solidarity.\u201d \u201cI believe the house arrests should be resolved as soon as possible,\u201d he said. \u201cWe cannot keep on talking about one of society\u2019s main demands.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the obstacles against their freedom has been the insistence by some officials that if they do not apologize and repent, it will damage the state and the supreme leader,\u201d he added. \u201cIt isn\u2019t wrong to have an opinion about the 2009 incidents different than those of people in power\u2026keeping [Mousavi, Rahnavard and Karroubi] under house arrest for six years is neither compatible with the law nor with religious teachings.\u201d<\/p>\n Ending the house arrests was one of Rouhani\u2019s top presidential campaign pledges in 2013, but he has dodged the issue since his election. Article 113 of Iran\u2019s Constitution states: \u201cAfter the office of leadership (supreme leader), the president is the highest official in the country. His is the responsibility for implementing the Constitution and acting as the head of the executive, except in matters directly concerned with (the office of) the leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is well past time for Rouhani to take a stand and speak out forcefully against the house arrests,\u201d said Ghaemi, \u201cin defense of citizens\u2019 rights and in defense of the law.\u201d<\/p>\n EndFragment<\/p>\n Follow the\u00a0Campaign<\/em> on Facebook<\/a> and Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n For the latest human rights developments in Iran visit the Campaign\u2019s<\/em> website<\/a><\/p>\n For interviews, contact:<\/p>\n