Iranian of the Day

Zamaneh: The son of Iranian opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi has written a letter to the “senior officials of the regime” to express concern regarding his father’s situation, urging the state to either transfer him to his home in Jamaran to continue his house arrest or to Evin Prison to be held like other political prisoners.

Mohammad Taghi Karroubi, Mehdi Karroubi’s eldest son, issued a letter published on the Saham News website, saying: “If there is any legitimacy in your statements regarding an order for house arrest, then he has to be transferred to his home in Jamaran, and his guards should observe all laws and regulations regarding prisoners.”

The letter indicates that Karroubi should not be required to pay for his own incarceration and prison guards, nor should he be held in constant isolation.

He adds: “No government official or institution has claimed responsibility for the arrest of my father.”

Since February of 2011, MirHosein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard and Mehdi Karroubi have been under house arrest. Fatemeh Karroubi was at first put under house arrest with her husband but she was released for medical treatment and is now forbidden to join him at the small apartment to which he’s been transferred.

Karroubi’s family was forced to rent an apartment for Mehdi Karroubi and cover the cost of the government guards who hold him under constant surveillance.

Karroubi and Mousavi challenged the outcome of the 2009 presidential elections with allegations of vote fraud and they have refused to back down from their accusations.

The government has essentially accused them of sedition but has never officially charged them or tried them in open court. It has merely put them under house arrest and isolated them from the public and even their families.

They are occasionally permitted a visit from their immediate family.

Karroubi is reportedly being denied fresh air and the opportunity to leave the apartment for any physical activity.

They are also denied any access to newspapers or the media.

Since the inception of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979, Mehdi Karroubi held high government offices, including serving as Speaker of the Parliament and member of the Expediency Council. Karroubi, Chairman of the Etemad-e Melli Party, ran in both the 2005 and 2009 presidential elections in Iran. In the aftermath of the disputed 2009 presidential election, Mehdi Karroubi and fellow candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi objected to election results and were subsequently put under house arrest in February 2011, following repeated physical attacks on his self and his property.