GVF — An Iranian lawmaker has called for an end to what he called “the illegal and illegitimate house arrest” of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi, the leaders of Iran’s opposition Green Movement.

Shakour Akbarnejad, an Iranian Member of Parliament representing the people of Tabziz, called for an end to the house arrest of Mahdi Karroubi, Mir Hossein Mousavi and his wife Zahra Rahnavard.

The two, along with their spouses, were placed under house arrest after calling for opposition protests in support of the Arab Spring in mid-February. In his most recent report, Ahmed Shaheed, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, expressed concern over the absence of any formal charges against Mousavi and Karroubi as well as their loss of “control over their health care, access to publications, privacy and the ability to live a normal life.”

Delivering a pre-session speech before fellow parliamentarians, Akbarnejad called the men’s ongoing house arrest an “illegal heresy” that went against religious law.

“Out of respect for those strata of society who think differently from us, put an end to imprisonment and house arrest and replace it with brotherhood and compassion,” the conservative MP pleaded.

Since the rigged 2009 presidential election, which sparked massive protests throughout the country, opposition candidates Mousavi and Karroubi have been spearheading what’s become known as the pro-democracy Green Movement.

Source : The Green Voice of Freedom