Khamenei Fully Approved Arrest Of Mousavi And Karroubi
By GVF
Following news about the arrest of the leaders of Iran’s opposition Green Movement, a reliable source has told the Green Voice of Freedom that the decision to detain Mousavi and Karroubi along with their wives was taken by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic Ali Khamenei.
On Saturday, a scholar at the Islamic seminary (Hawza) of Iran’s religious heartland Qom contacted Mr Haghani and Malekan, two officials working for the offices of the leadership in Tehran and Qom, expressing his concerns about the possible repercussions of arresting the 2009 presidential candidates.
Nevertheless, the officials responded to the religious scholar by telling him that the judiciary head Sadegh Larijani had already voiced similar doubts regarding the arrest of the two opposition figures, yet Khamenei had reassuringly responded by arguing that “the supervision over this case and assessing the political and security repercussions are being handled by Seyed Mojtaba [Khamenei] and my trusted experts and therefore there is no cause for concern.”
Previously imprisoned opposition leader Mahdi Karroubi had exposed Mojtaba’s Khamenei’s role in the vote-riggings that occurred during the 2005 presidential election which led to the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president.
Mojtaba Vahedi, a senior aide to Karroubi has also told the BBC’s Persian service that the arrest of Karroubi and Mousavi was carried out in full coordination between Sadegh Larijani and Khamenei. Vahedi said Khamenei had come to the conclusion that the imprisonment of Karroubi and Mousavi would have no serious consequences for the political establishment.
Similarly, in an interview with the BBC on Monday night, former reformist MP Ali Akbar Khoiniha said the imprisonment of Mousavi and Karroubi in the Heshmatiyeh military prison could only have been carried out after the approval of Khamenei himself and that he would be held directly accountable for any harm that may come to the reformist leaders while in detention.
There is currently no news about the opposition leaders’ state of well-being as even family members have been deprived of receiving any form of information about their loves ones behind bars.
The illegal house-arrest and the subsequent imprisonment of Mousavi, Karroubi and their wives represents a new low in the draconian tactics employed by the gang of hoodlums that run Iran today. Article 32 of the Islamic Republic’s own constitution states very clearly that “No one may be arrested except by the order and in accordance with the procedure laid down by law. In case of arrest, charges with the reasons for accusation must, without delay, be communicated and explained to the accused in writing, and a provisional dossier must be forwarded to the competent judicial authorities within a maximum of twenty-four hours so that the preliminaries to the trial can be completed as swiftly as possible. The violation of this article will be liable to punishment in accordance with the law.”
It is noteworthy that the Green Movement will once more take to the streets today at 5pm local time to show its support for the opposition leaders and to show its opposition to the men’s arrest.
Ahmadinejad’s Interior Ministry has until now refused to grant any permit for the Green Movement to hold demonstrations in the country. Nevertheless, article 27 of the Iranian constitution stipulates that public gatherings and marches may be freely held, provided arms are not carried and that they are not detrimental to the Islamic values. The opposition took to the street on the 14th and 20th February, but protests were turned violent after security forces opened fire on protesters killing at least three.
