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Former Iranian lawmakers demand removal of house arrest orders against opposition leaders

May 2, 2016 at 2:36 pm

As many as six former parliamentarians from the moderate reformist wing in Iran, on Sunday sent a letter to the country’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, demanding the lifting of the house arrest orders against two opposition leaders, Mehdi Karoubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi and his wife Zahra Rahnavard, and to grant them a public trial.

The lawmakers explained in their letter that the request for a public trial is the right of every Iranian, adding that Karoubi has sent a letter to President Hassan Rouhani demanding a public trial.

The letter’s text said “As regional, global and internal crises reach their peak, we believe that the best way to solve these problems is to increase cooperation and the consolidation of national unity through protecting the citizens’ rights which is why we ask you to end the house arrest imposed on Karoubi and Mousavi and his wife”.

The Iranian authorities had imposed house arrest orders against Karoubi and Mousavi and his wife in February 2011 without trial over their disapproval of the 2009 presidential elections results and support for the protests that followed.