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1,000 Days of House Arrest

· Written by Farid

Categories: Middle East & North Africa, Iran, Human Rights, Politics, Protest
Three Green Movement Leaders under House Arrest, source:Rahesabz

Three Green Movement Leaders under House Arrest. Source: Rahesabz

The three leading figures of protests that gripped the attention of the entire world as millions took to the streets of Iran remain locked up in their homes after more than 1,000 days of house arrest [1]. On November 12, 2013 Mir Hossein Mousavi [2], his wife, Zahra Rahnavard [3]and Mehdi Karoubi [4] marked the 1,000th day of confinement without trial [1] or any official charges.

The Green Movement erupted after the controversial 2009 presidential election [5] that saw the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Several bloggers, news websites, and activist sites such as Rahesabz [6] (see photo) remembered the three leaders during the week of the 1,000th day.

No Trial, No Fresh air

In a video message, Mehdi Karoubi's wife, Fatemeh Karoubi, says that her husband has health problems that have worsened under house arrest [he is kept in a building that is separate from his actual house] and that he is deprived of fresh air [it seems all windows are locked]. She emphasizes that there has been no trial.

“Hope, the last thing dies”

ُMaryam Ghasemi tweets [7]:

If we count to 1,000 we will get bored. If we draw a line on a wall every day, there will be no more space after 1,000 days.

Ali Nemati Shahab reminds us of a “lesson from history” as he marks the 1000th day by tweeting [10]:

[Alexander] Dubček [13][the reformist leader of Czechoslovakia] waited for 20 years to revive Prague's spring, he used to say “Hope is last thing that dies.”

Arash Bahamani tweets [14]:

Let us also tweet #بشمر1000 [meaning count to 1,000] for all who were forced to leave Iran in the last 34 years [since the revolution].