Iranian MP urges respect for civil liberties

Iranian MP, Ali Motahari

Ali Motahari, a conservative Member of Iran’s Parliament warned the government to respect people’s civil liberties and to release political prisoners.

Ali Motahari, son of the late prominent Shiite cleric Ayatollah Motahari, maintained that the authorities should not imagine that the presence of “people and the elite” in the February 11 demonstrations is a confirmation of their methods and that “criticisms and protests” to the establishment are no longer there.

He also accused the disputers of the elections of making false claims and emphasized that those who have provoked people to take to the streets and create the election crisis should be prosecuted.

In an interview with Khabar Online, he maintained that those who planted the seeds of these disturbances in the elections debates should also be held accountable.

Ali Motahari has accused Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of starting the election crisis by his comments in the televised election debates.

He added: “So long as the wrongs committed by the two sides have not been repaired, we cannot claim that this crisis has completely ended.”

According to the Iranian MP, by joining the February 11 demonstrations, people expect the government to put greater effort in their economic needs and control the inflation.

Yesterday, the Iranian government staged mass demonstrations to mark the 31st anniversary of Iran’s 1979 Revolution. While election protesters attempted to stage their own counter protests, they were forced to disperse by violent confrontation of security forces which were stepped up all over the capital as well as in other major cities.

Opposition leaders, Mehdi Karroubi, MirHosein Mousavi and Mohammad Khatami were also forced to leave as soon as they made an appearance on the streets.

Meanwhile arrest of opposition figures such as members of Mousavi’s campaign headquarters and other reformist figures continues all across Iran.