Iranian opposition party allowed to resume activity

Sun, 31 Oct 2010

Tehran - The Iranian opposition party Etemad Melli (National Trust) has been allowed to reopen and resume its political activity, the party's deputy head said Sunday.

"The main office has been unsealed (by the judiciary) and we were told that we can resume our activity," Rassoul Montajabnia told ISNA news agency.

Etemad Melli is led by Mehdi Karroubi, a former parliament speaker and since last year one of the most vehement critics of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Karroubi and former prime minister Mir-Hossein Moussavi last year lost to Ahmadinejad in the presidential election but accused him and his government of fraud, refusing to acknowledge his re-election.

The two have since formed the main local opposition with Karroubi having made an informal coalition with Moussavi's Green Movement, considered as the main opposition bloc.

Etemad Melli's main office in Tehran and its branches in the provinces had been closed after the widespread political protests and unrest which follow last June's election.

The party's newspaper was also closed and the website filtered due to alleged propaganda against the establishment.

"Even if re-opened, we still have to evaluate what form of political activity we can at all pursue in the current situation," Montajabnia said, referring to the suppressive methods used against the local opposition following the political unrest.

Due to Karroubi's harsh criticism of Ahmadinejad and his government, including allegations that male and female post-election prisoners were raped in jail, resuming the party's activity as it was before the election seemed unrealistic.

Both Karroubi and Moussavi have stressed that the government must release all post-election prisoners, including more than hundred opposition activists, former reformist officials, journalists and students, who have been sentenced to lengthy jail terms.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/351250,party-allowed-resume-activity.html.