Tehran, Iran, September 5
By Mehdi Sepahvand –- Trend:
Over the recent weeks after Hassan Rouhani was elected president for a second term, the issue of house arrest of three leading dissidents of the 2009 presidential election has seen new hype, with brighter horizon showing up at every turn of the screw.
The moderate cum reformist Rouhani, conservative figures closer to the ultra-governmental bodies, and reformists ranging from the public to some media, are engaged in the lingering issue that is going to last almost a decade now.
President Rouhani is not the ultimate decision maker on the issue. While he is being poked by his reformist voters to fulfill his promise of resolving the chronic affliction, he faces conservative figures in the Judiciary as well as the Supreme National Security Council who follow a strict line on the dissidents as people who betrayed national security and are worthy of the harshest of punishments, maybe death.
In the most recent development over the issue, government spokesman Mohammad Baqer Nobakht implied during a press conference that Rouhani is stoutly trying to put an end to the house arrest in the capacity of the head of the Supreme National Security Council, Trend correspondent reported from the presser September 5.
The Supreme National Security Council is a body of senior politicians, ranging from former presidents to high-ranking military, judicial, intelligence, and civil servants, appointed by the supreme leader to rule cases beyond the capacity or agreement of three legislative, executive, and judiciary branches.
The house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi, two presidential candidates in 2009 who turned to opposition citing electoral fraud, were put under house arrest along Mousavi’s wife, Zahra Rahnavard, by the council. At that time, then president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad headed the council.
The arrestees, as well as their supporters, even sometimes senior conservative politicians such as MP Ali Motahari, have denounced the house arrest as unjustified, calling for legal proceedings to be taken against them. Karoubi himself recently said he would accept whatever the outcome of a publicly held court hearing would be.
Conservatives who backed Ahmadinejad after his 2009 victory, however, have said the only conceivable outcome of such court hearing would be capital punishment. Mousavi and Karoubi led massive demonstrations, in the millions, against the election result back then. Their opponents, including senior figures in the Judiciary, no less Ejei who acts also as deputy head of the branch, say according to Islamic law, their act amounts to fighting the Islamic establishment and corruption on earth, and would be met with harsh punishment.
In his today’s press conference, the government spokesman also made a move to put the Judiciary in the off side over the issue, refuting recent statements by the conservative Judiciary spokesman, Qolamhossein Mohseni Ejei, as out of place. The issue of house arrest “is not one of judicial ruling, but rather a case with the Supreme National Security Council. The problem we have here was created during the previous administration (Ahmadinejad’s).” He added that the spokesman of the council is the only legally justified person to inform public about the council’s decisions.
Ejei in recent statements had refuted documented statements by Nobakht, who had said security deployment around Karoubi’s house had been called in. Ejei himself, however, later attested to Nobakht’s statements and resigned to say that the security forces had been collected following a request to the effect by Karoubi.
In remarks parallel to those of Nobakht on the same day, the security council’s spokesman, Keyvan Khosravi, opened the prospect of some change in the status of the house arrest, saying “The decision to enforce the house arrest was made according to the situations specific to the year 2009.”
He further stressed that any decision whether to end or continue the house arrest will solely fall within the province of the council.
A few days ago Karoubi was hospitalized as he tried hunger strike. He then requested security forces around his house to be collected, which was granted by the Supreme National Security Council.
Nobakht, in the meantime, suggested that although President Rouhani is pushing to put an end to the house arrest, a consensus is needed to be reached between all the parties of influence over the issue before any action is taken.
During his presidential campaign, Rouhani made promise to take care of the issue of house arrest. This, many believe, was a key factor in attracting reformist voters, who had backed Karoubi and Mousavi.