Iran Document: Mousavi "Greens Will Not be Stopped by Arrests, Prisons, or Killing"

Mir Hossein Mousavi's latest statement, made in a meeting political prisoners detained during the Shah’s regime. Translation from the Facebook page supporting Mousavi:

Mousavi, while noting the difficulties of the early days of the revolution, said, “No system is without problems...[however], if the general frameworks were preserved,  our Iran would have moved in a good direction.”

Mousavi, referring to the anniversary of the passing of Imam Khomeini [4 June] and recalling the unique and historic funeral of Imam Khomeini in which millions of people participated, called this great participation a sign of the support of the nation for the revolution and what have had happened in its first decade of the revolution: “Without trying to ignore some of the problems, this [great participation] was a sign that many of the principles were achieved [at that time]....

"Always different governments give a series of indices as the indicators of their success, such as GDP, wealth and productivity or non-material aspects such as education and human dignity....At the beginning of the [Iran-Iraq] war the massive number of pure and loyal individuals whom the revolution gave to us, was the index and sign of the rightfulness of our system. We have always known the front lines as the sign of our rightfulness and also as a sign that the system have had been successful in achieving its principles.


"But unfortunately there has been gradual deviation and in the recent years we have also found some main problems such that today we cannot answer to the younger generation. Even when we explain to them that what were the goals of the early days of the revolution and after the revolution what changes happened in the country, we cannot convince them. The only reason is because we were derailed from the path.”

Mousavi said: “Before revolution there was no freedom. The topics of printed and main books were very limited and [books] were circulated in an underground network. But after the revolution there were Book Fairs to show that this system does not believe in limiting thoughts, and indeed a cultural revolution was formed.

"But even in this one case compare what we wanted to the unprecedented events of this year’s Book Fair in which even the books and writing of some of the Marjas (senior religious figures) were banned. They eliminated the booth displaying the books of Martyr Ayatollah Beheshti, who was one of the founders of this revolution. As usual there have been restrictions on books on literature and social sciences. These are only small signs of the divergence from the principles of the revolution."

Mousavi, warning about the continuation of this trend, said: “The system is moving toward monologue so that it does not tolerate any other view. Monologue by itself leads to tyranny and dictatorship and...[is] the most important factor inhibiting development.

“What we are witnessing now is the policies that targeted the transparency and free flow of information. It is not surprising that in our country the issues of corruptions, lies and dictatorship are expanding, because if there are no free thoughts, then in a monologue environment these issues are natural.”

Mousavi discussed the relation between the Green Movement and the principles of the revolution and said: “Green is for freedom and justice. Justice for the people who participated in the revolution: this country with all its diversified ethnicities, cultures and languages belongs to them, and justice in social, political, and economic aspects is part of their rights, as well as freedom....If it does not exist, people’s rights will be violated. There was a time that we wished the prisons would be empty, and we celebrate the day Evin prison would be shut down, but now there are new constructions in Evin to make more cells to imprison more people. This is another sign of corruption and divergence [from our principles].”

Mousavi noted: “We did not want to form a government and define a framework in the name of Islam [which is] empty of content and has no sign of the principles and dreams that emerged from our religion and beliefs. If a system is to stay by filling the prisons or by beating and arresting students, Muslim workers and teachers, artists, filmmakers and journalists, can one defend such a system in the world?”

Mousavi stressed that seeking freedom and justice is a serious demand in this atmosphere: “The Green Movement is an ongoing process which will not stopped by arrests, threats and imprisonments or even by killings, because it contains the demands that have emerged from the true and human needs of our nation. This movement is a four-season movement. It revitalizes and appears in different forms....t has emerged from the human demands of our nation, and it is a continuation of the long-time struggles of our nation to achieve freedom and justice.”

Mousavi referred to the goals and mottos of the Green Movement: “When we say the Constitution, the issue is clear; when we say there must be no corruption and lies and there must be justice, the issue is clear. Promoting awareness is the greatest tool of the Green Movement.

"We don’t want to fight with anyone. We are defending our rights. Our tool is to spread awareness among the people and we are not blocking anyone’s path. They can propagate against us that we are not telling the truth. We don’t expect them to act fair, either in their state-run TV and radio or in their other media.”

“During the election campaign, one of the most important and most effective posters that was was “No Lies”. I saw it for the first time in Tehran, and within 24 hours I saw it in one of the most remote areas of the country because it was the tangible and serious demand of the people.

“The fact that they cannot tolerate even one free, normal weblog free and today that in cyberspace there is not even one medium in our hands that is safe from filtering: all are signs that their main source of fear is the issue of awareness. Therefore anyone in any place who feels responsible should make efforts based on his/her capability to spread political and social awareness, even if it would be by saying a minor point in a gathering.

“We should spread awareness from family environments to the gatherings of friends and relatives and among the different classes and provinces. The Green Movement does not have a complex goal. We don’t want corruption and lies; we want respect for the people; we want to have a proper judiciary system that would not be oppressive.

"They should not be able to force someone to confess, then based on that confession, execute him/her or beat the prisoners. [They should not] release the prisoners and, after a couple of weeks, contact him/her and ask them to give forced interviews or, if they do not agree, call them back to prison."

Mousavi added: "I always say that how unfamiliar with the truth are those who have created these extensive prisons. Many times during the month of Ramadan and our national and religious celebrations,  there was the opportunity to return freely to the principles despite the past. This would have automatically made people optimistic. Even now if they say that a free and competitive election will be held and there will not be cheating, you'll see that people will breathe a sigh of relief.

"A regime that cannot investigate the attack on university students' dormitory with bravery and explain to people what really happened and cannot deal with those who cheated....[that] is a weak regime. The strength of a regime is in its ability to explain problems.

"In the case of Kahrizak Prison, they claim to have sentenced three persons. Kahrizak is a national issue, and for this reason all discussions about Kahrizak must be in front of people's eyes so that it will not be repeated and people will be convinced that justice was served.

"Even this vague result that they (the authorities) announced with three people sentenced must be explained  so we know who these three people are and how they relate to those whose names were announced in the Parliament (a reference to to former Tehran Prosecutor General and current Presidential aide Saeed Mortazavi, who was declared by a parliamentary committee to be responsible for the death of political prisoners at Kahrizak prison)."

Mousavi said: "We all hope that this false path turn into the right path. (Should this happen) people will be satisfied, no matter who does it or in what circumstances. People have fought and have suffered to achieve freedom and justice and to not be under tyranny and dictatorship. (They have fought) to have posts and statures rotate so that everybody in any position remains responsible to the people. “

Mir Hossein Mousavi addressed the political prisoners from before the revolution and added: "These attacks and arrests don't solve the issue. Didn't Shah's regime fall despite putting you in jail? The regime fell....The question is whether those arrests saved Shah's regime?

"The status of media and the flow of free information and news around the globe is very different from the era when you were imprisoned. First thing in the morning by reviewing a few websites, one can get all the news, (when) before announcements were spread hand-to-hand with all kinds of difficulties and sometimes with danger and eventually would have reached only a few. Satellites and the international media and communications are all very important [today].”

Mousavi emphasized: "Some think that by creating an atmosphere of fear and terror, they can manage the affairs, but the country must be governed and should be governed with freedom and justice, not with Evin prison.”

Comments

[Bozorg]

Blah, blah, blah.

Less blabbering, more concrete actions, Mousavi.

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