Followers of Imam demands prosecution of opposition leaders

Meeting of Followers of Imam with Ahmadinejad

Followers of Imam and Leadership Front, the ultra-conservative party and supporter of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for the prosecution of “the claimants of fraud in the elections.”

In a statement signed by chairman of the party Habibollah Asgaroladi, the judiciary is urged to take legal action against the challengers of the election outcome.

MirHosein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi are two reformist candidates of the presidential elections that have announced that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s victory is tainted with vote-rigging and his consequent government, illegitimate. They are supported by numerous political and social activists as well as reformist clerics.

The Followers of Imam state that "two movements have converged in the recent events to influence a section of the society. First a movement supported by foreign forces aiming at repeating a soft revolution in Iran, and the other, an internal movement which has become aligned with the aims of the foreign movement." The party of hardliners claims that the allegations of fraud in the elections have risen from “a unique election competitiveness” which has damaged public trust and created divisions.

Followers of Imam and Leadership Front maintain that people have been deceived by these allegations of fraud and therefore insist that the leaders of the opposition be brought to trial.

Despite repeated calls from hardliners, the government has shied away from arresting the two disputing candidates. MirHosein Mousavi, a former prime minister, and Mehdi Karroubi, a former speaker of the parliament are closely tied with the establishment both in terms of their contribution to the 1979 Revolution that established the Islamic Republic in Iran, and also their position in the consequent system that has ruled Iran for 30 years. So far the authorities are keeping a delicate balance by arresting the prominent supporters and senior aides of Karroubi and Mousavi in hopes of defusing the protests.