Press release February 17, 2015
Iran’s Shame: Detention of Mousavi, Karroubi and Rahnavard
To mark the fourth anniversary of Iran’s house arrest of political opposition leaders Mehdi Karroubi, Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard, Freedom House issued the following statement.
Washington
To mark the fourth anniversary of Iran’s house arrest of political opposition leaders Mehdi Karroubi, Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard, Freedom House issued the following statement:
“The open-ended house arrest of Mr. Karroubi, Mr. Mousavi and Ms. Rahnavard – two former presidential candidates and a women’s rights advocate – without charge since 2011 is a blatant violation of Iran’s national laws and international obligations and a shame on the government,” said Daniel Calingaert, executive vice president. “Iranian authorities should unconditionally release them along with the hundreds of other prisoners of conscience now imprisoned and detained under house arrest for exercising their rights to freedom of assembly and expression.”
Background:
Mr. Karroubi, a Shia cleric, and Mr. Mousavi are former senior Iranian government officials who were candidates in the disputed presidential election in 2009. Ms. Rahnavard, Mr. Mousavi’s wife, is an author, political activist, and women’s rights advocate. The three were detained in 2011 after calling for solidarity protests with pro-democracy activists across Iran. Prominent members of the ‘Green Movement’ in Iran, they participated in protests against former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed re-election in 2009.
Iran is rated Not Free in Freedom of the World 2015, Freedom of the Press 2014 and Freedom on the Net 2014.