After four years, Mousavi’s house arrest lifted
The reformist leader had been under restrictive measures without a trial since 2011 after leading a protest against Ahmadinejad’s sham re-election. Rouhani, who succeeded the latter, said he wants to put an end to the restrictive measures.
Tehran (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Iranian authorities have eased restrictions on Hussein Mousavi, the reformist candidate who run in the 2009 presidential elections, two media outlets close to the reform movement have reported.
Mr Mousavi has been under house arrest since 2011. On Monday, reformist-linked ILNA news agency said some restrictions on visits to Mousavi and his wife Rahnavard "have been lifted . . . over the past week".
This means that the "daughters, the grandchildren and the two sons-in-law of Mr Mousavi and Mrs Rahnavard can visit them normally,” the agency reported citing Ghasem Mirzaie Nikou, a member of a parliamentary committee that has been lobbying for the release of Mousavi, his wife, and another reformist leader, Mehdi Karoubi.
Nikou also told the outlet he hoped other family members would also be granted access.
The semi-official ISNA agency cited Gholamreza Heidari, another member of the same committee, as saying there had been "an opening" in the couple's case. The authorities "have come to the conclusion that maintaining (their) house arrest does not go in the direction of the national interest or that of the system," he said.
Heidari told ISNA he hoped the couple would soon be released but added that "of course we will have to be patient". Thus, Mousavi and his wife would get the same visiting rights as Karoubi, 80, following his hospitalisation.
After the announcement of their defeat in the 2009 presidential elections, Mousavi, who is now 75, and Karoubi led a protest against the sham re-election of the right-wing populist Ahmadinejad.
The protest movement was harshly repressed, and both political leaders were placed under house arrest without trial in 2011.
Hassan Rouhani, who succeeded Ahmadinejad as president, said he wanted to do everything possible to end the restrictive measures.
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