04/29/2011
GVF — Fatemeh Karroubi, spouse of Mahdi Karroubi who spearheads Iran’s opposition Green Movement, has said that her husband is in good spirits despite being under house arrest and that he is prepared to pay any price for defending the rights of the Iranian people and reforming the derailed 1979 Islamic Revolution.
In an interview with Saham news, the official website of Karroubi’s National Trust Party, Fatemeh Karroubi expressed her gratitude over the outpouring of “unwavering kindness and support” from both inside and outside the country for the opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi.
Karoubi and his wife were placed under house arrest on 10 February after he and fellow 2009 presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi called for rallies in solidarity with the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. A few days later and at the same time as the 14 February opposition protests, Mousavi and his wife Zahra Rahnavard were also placed under illegal arrest.
After enduring 71 days of house arrest, Fatemeh Karroubi was allowed to leave their family home for medical treatment. However, yesterday afternoon, Ms Karroubi was allowed to rejoin her husband who has been incarcerated in their home for close to eighty days.
During the interview, Fatemeh Karroubi said that following the 14 February anti-government demonstrations, state-sponsored thugs, gathered outside their home in Tehran for six consecutive nights, creating havoc, mayhem and terrorising the neighbourhood by stealing property such as closed-circuit cameras, throwing sound bombs inside the house and vandalising the residence.
“Resorting to thugs and hooligans is a simple measure by adopted by dictatorships, and today these measures are being enforced in other countries in the region too. But let us not forget that the establishment’s stain of shame will remain,” she added. “Those who have a role in these oppressions or pave the way for these people to gain ground should know … that sooner or later, this will include them too.”
Speaking about the couple’s condition under detention and their captives’ treatment, she continued, “Prior to the New Iranian Year, the conditions were very severe and the treatments harsh. My husband and I were even deprived of the rights enjoyed by a prisoner in solitary confinement. But in the New Year, a new attitude was adopted and our condition under incarceration underwent a slight improvement.” [1]
“The term commonly used term ‘house arrest’ is not fitting, because the security forces have not only took over the residential complex, but have taken control of our apartment unit too.”
“For 71 days, I did not even enjoy for a single day, the normal rights of a prisoner such as daily access to open air or telephone. There’s a lot to be said in this regard and God-willing, I will speak more in the future,” she added. Regarding her husband’s spirits she stressed “Mr Karroubi is in very good morale. As I have said many times, he believes in continuing the path of reforming the deviation that has occurred in the revolution and defending the rights of the people, and he is prepared to pay any price in this path.”
Fatemeh Karroubi, a former member of the Iranian Parliament (Majlis), expressed her gratitude and appreciation towards all those who have offered their “unwavering” support and sympathy to Iran’s opposition leaders currently under house arrest.
She also expressed regret over the continued nuisance caused for her neighbours who have no choince but to listen to the use of foul language used by state-thugs after midnight in attempt to intimidate the green leader and his neighbours.