September 01, 2017
First Vice President Es’haq jahangiri says round-the-clock guards posted at the home of Mehdi Karrubi are indeed to be removed,
He affirmed that the guards would be removed two days after Judiciary spokesman Gholam-Hossain Mohseni-Ejai called news reports on their promised removal “a pack of lies.”
Karrubi’s son had earlier announced that Intelligence Ministry officials had visited Karrubi in the hospital and pledged to remove the guards, one of two conditions Karrubi set for ending his hunger strike.
Karrubi, 79, has been under house arrest and surrounded by guards around the clock since February 2011.
Karrubi’s other demand was that he be charged with some crime and put on trial if the house arrest is not to be ended. His visitors said they had no authority to set trials, but would urge the Judiciary to put him on trial.
Mohseni-Ejai said no trial could be held until the Supreme National Security Council, chaired by President Rohani, authorizes one. But the council has no judicial role. Karrubi was put under house arrest by the Supreme Leader. The house arrest is actually a substitute for a trial.
Musa Qazanfarabadi, the head of the Tehran Revolutionary Court system, denigrated talk of a trial as foolish.
“A trial will bring regret for these people,” he said, “because the court and the system do not joke around with anyone and do their legal duty with determination, power and precision.”
He said house arrest is really better for Karrubi, Mir-Hossain Musavi and Musavi’s wife, Zahra Rahnavard. “Under house arrest, he said, they “are protected and care for.”
He said the calls for a trial are not coming from people who support the revolution. “Those saying it may not be aware of it, but these are the words of foreigners,” Qazanfarabadi said.