Iranian Opposition Figure Demands Court Hearing

Iranian opposition figure Mehdi Karrubi, under house arrest since February 2011, has called on President Hassan Rohani to ask the “autocratic” Iranian establishment for a court hearing.

Iranian authorities put Karrubi and his fellow opposition figures Mir Hossein Musavi along with his wife Zahra Rahnavard under house arrest after they repeatedly challenged Iranian leaders over the 2009 disputed reelection of Mahmud Ahmadinejad.

The three also criticized a post-election state crackdown.

Karrubi, a former parliamentary speaker, and Musavi, a former prime minister, ran as presidential candidates in the 2009 vote. Karrubi was also a presidential candidate in the 2005 presidential election.

In a letter to Rohani, published by an opposition website on April 9, Karrubi said that he’s ready to show that the 2005 and 2009 elections that Ahmadinejad won were rigged.

He also said that he would shed light on the plight of prisoners held in Iran’s “legal and illegal” detention centers.

Karrubi said he’s aware that Rohani does not have the authority to end his house arrest.

Rohani promised in his 2013 election campaign that he would work to end the house arrest of opposition figures.

Iranian hard-liners have accused Musavi and Karrubi of harming the Islamic republic.