Dictatorship in the Name of Religion is the Worst

As the anniversary of the 1979 revolution that brought on the Islamic republic approaches on February 11 (ie 22 of the Persian month of Bahman), presidential contender Mir-Hossein Mousavi blasted Iran’s judiciary’s actions and the government’s treatment of protesters in an interview, reiterating his previous positions and announcing, “Today, people’s resistance is the Islamic revolution’s precious legacy, aptly demonstrated by our people’s intolerance for the dishonesty, fraud and corruption that we witness these days.”  

The interview, published two days ago by Kalameh website, quotes Mir-Hossein Mousavi about the upcoming anniversary rally, held every year in Iran, and notes, “People have a right to hold peaceful rallies and demonstrations.  Women, men, the youth, the middle-aged, the elderly, and in my opinion, the people have no hostility towards the police and Basij, because they view them to be from the people.”

In the interview, Mousavi attacks and reiterates his original positions on the role of the state in suppressing the will and aspirations of people.

He says, “In the early years of the revolution, the majority of our people had been convinced that the revolution had erased all structures of dictatorship and autocracy, and I was one of these people.  But today, I don’t believe so.“  Mousavi then compared the present era with that the pre-revolution days, adding, “Today we can discern the causes and roots of both dictatorship and people’s resistance, which can be said is the previous legacy of the Islamic revolution.”  

Explaining the characteristics of dictatorship, Mir-Hossein Mousavi says, “Stifling the media, filling the prisons and brutally killing people who peacefully demand their rights in the streets indicate the roots of tyranny and dictatorship remain from the monarchist era.”

Noting that “We have completely lost hope in the judiciary,” Mir-Hossein Mousavi adds, “Today they have filled the prisons with the nation’s most honest children; from students and professors to other classes.  They follow archaic formulas to accuse them of imaginary charges, either financial or sexual corruption or espionage.  Meanwhile, the real deviants and plunderers of public resources are maneuvering outside prisons.  Instead of looking for the real spies, they accuse pious and honest people of espionage.”

In another part of his remarks, Mir-Hossein Mousavi says, “In my opinion, one of the most evident manifestations of a continued tyrannical attitude is the abuse of parliament and judiciary.  Can the judicial and legislative branches today use all the levers granted to them by the Constitution?  Another similarity is between elections now and elections from that era.  You can compare the electoral process for the Majlis in early post-revolution years with now to see whether we have moved forward or backward.”  

Noting that “I don’t think we have to choose between justice and liberty,” Mousavi contends, “Today, those who are responsible for our people’s sub-standard living conditions and our national stagnation, and those responsible for inflation and unemployment and the destruction of our nation’s economy, those responsible for closure of major projects and our falling behind of competitors in the region, are attempting to use the situation to their advantage through injecting painkillers and implementing arbitrary but populist policies.”