Calls grow to charge Mousavi with treason

Jul 04, 2009 at 12:32

UPDATE 1: Leading Iranian daily accuses opposition leader of killing innocent people and inciting riots.

An editor seen as close to Iran's leadership said on Saturday that opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi should go on trial, and a lawyer said other reformists had already been accused of acting against national security.

Mousavi and his supporters in last month's disputed presidential election had acted on the instructions of the United States in protesting against the results, said Hossein Shariatmadari, editor-in-chief of the hardline Kayhan daily.

"An open court, in front of the people's eyes, must deal with all the terrible crimes and clear betrayal committed by the main elements behind the recent unrest, including Mousavi and (former President Mohammad) Khatami," he wrote in a commentary.

Another hardline newspaper, Javan, said 100 members of parliament had signed a letter to the judiciary calling for the leaders of "post-election riots" to face trial, pointing to Mousavi and fellow defeated moderate Mehdi Karoubi.

The authorities have portrayed mass pro-Mousavi protests, which erupted after official results of the June 12 vote showed hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had been re-elected by a landslide, as the work of local subversives and foreign powers.

Reformers have dismissed such accusations. At least 20 people died in post-election violence.

"All they did and said was in line with the instructions announced by American officials in the past," Shariatmadari, who is close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, wrote.

Ahmadinejad, in a speech in Tehran to mark Mines and Industry Day, said Western powers were whipping up controversy over the Iranian election to divert attention from their economic problems.

"The countries suffering from the financial crisis have tried hard to divert the world public opinion from this huge crisis," he said.

In a separate meeting, he said the election result was "a strong slap in their faces" for "domineering" foreign powers who had tried to create conflict in Iran.

Security forces quelled the election protests, but Mousavi and allies who say the election was rigged have refused to back down. Administration hardliners seem determined to stop them.

Former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who backed Mousavi, said post-election events had caused "bitterness".

"I don't think (anybody with a) vigilant conscience is satisfied with the current situation," Mehr News Agency quoted him as saying at a meeting with detainees' families, in apparent criticism of the authorities' handling of the protests.

"I hope with good management and wisdom the issues would be settled in the next days," added the influential 75-year-old, seen as a possible mediator.

Lawyer Saleh Nikbakht said he was representing prominent detainees including former vice president Mohammad Ali Abtahi, former deputy foreign minister Mohsen Aminzadeh and former government spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh.

They held their positions under Khatami, who was in office in 1997-2005 and backed moderate candidates in the June vote.

"I am the lawyer of about 12 journalists and political activists who were detained recently ... their general charge is acting against national security," Nikbakht told the news agency Reuters.

Other leading reformers he said he represented included Mostafa Tajzadeh, a former deputy interior minister, and Behzad Nabavi, also a former government minister.

"If the charges are proven then the cases will be referred to revolutionary courts after the preliminary investigation," Nikbakht said, referring to a court handling security issues.

Karoubi's Etemad-e Melli website said he had visited families of some of the detainees, including Abtahi, who was part of his campaign and was arrested on June 16.

"The recent detainees were not opponents of the system. They are members of the establishment who had some complaints against the result of the election," Karoubi said.

"It is not correct to restrict the protesters instead of removing the doubts over the election irregularities. Such actions will cause people's beliefs and trust to be destroyed and this is very dangerous," he said during his visits.

A senior pro-reform cleric urged the authorities not to violate people's rights and said many Iranians remained unconvinced about Ahmadinejad's re-election because of voting "ambiguities".

"I remind you that no instruction or command can be a permission or excuse to violate people's rights and this could be a great sin," Grand Ayatollah Yusof Saanei said on Friday.

People accused of acting against national security - a common charge against dissenting voices in Iran - could face jail, a ban on political activities and holding government positions, or even the death penalty.

The authorities say the vote was Iran's "healthiest" since the revolution. Government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham said the next government enjoyed "huge support".

"A small group are moving in a wrong path which is not the path of the revolution. The real winner of the election is 40 million voters," he said, adding that if activists or journalists committed crimes they should be punished.

Karoubi, who like Mousavi has called for the election to be annulled, vowed not to back down. "I don't know what will happen in the end. But I have prepared myself for everything. I will stand till the end to defend people's rights," he said.