February 07 2020
Mehdi Karrubi, under house arrest for his protests against the 2009 presidential election outcome, has been punished anew for a scathing attack on the Supreme Leader, blaming him for covering up for three days the fact that Iranian missiles brought down a Ukrainian passenger plane.
In an open letter released January 11, Karrubi, 82, said as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was responsible for the official falsehoods about the plane’s demise.
“If you were aware of what had happened and consciously permitted military, security and public relations officials to deceive the people, that would be very bad because it would mean you have none of the qualifications and character traits to lead the country according to the Constitution,” Karrubi wrote.
“Pray tell, what kind of commander-in-chief are you to allow those under your command to play with the country’s [security] in such a way? It is obvious you lack the necessary wisdom, courage, management skills and power to be a leader.”
One of Karrubi’s sons, Mohammad-Taghi Karrubi, told the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) January 14 that the security establishment had pressured the family not to publish his father’s letter or “suffer consequences.”
He said that since the letter was published, “the authorities have banned all visits with my father by second-tier family members such as his only sister. Visiting privileges have regressed to last year’s restrictions. His children can only see him once a week and as of today [January 14] body searches of visitors inside the house have resumed,” he told CHRI.
He added: “[Last March] the authorities had allowed the installation of a satellite dish so that my father could watch a couple of foreign news networks. Now they have cut it off.” Such satellite dishes are illegal in Iran, but widespread—and the law is not enforced within the establishment.
“Family members could also carry phones and we could talk to each other, but now the phones have been taken away and phone contacts have been completely cut off and newspaper deliveries have become more restricted. My other brother went to see my father tonight, but he was not allowed inside.”
