Karoubi’s Son Interrogated for Six Hours

Hossein Karoubi, prominent pro-reformist cleric Mehdi Karoubi’s eldest son was released from top security Evin Prison after six hours of interrogations. This is the second time in two weeks Mr. Karoubi was summoned to Evin and interrogated.

A Rooz reporter reports from Tehran that Mr. Karoubi was interrogated over his interviews about the atrocities committed at Kahrizak Prison where rape, murder and torture have been reported. Hossein Karoubi was told that he had dishonored the country through the interviews.

 During the interrogations, Mr. Karoubi was accused of targeting the supreme leader of the Islamic republic and in his interviews had weakened him, after Mr. Karoubi’s father’s was raided by plainclothes agents and Basiji militiamen last year.

 In February of 2010 over 50 plainclothes agents, which included some women, gathered in front of Mehdi Karoubi’s house and chanted slogans against him, Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mohammad Khatami – all leaders of Iran’s Green Movement that has challenged the 2009 presidential election results – and then engaged in the destruction of his house while calling on authorities to confront this cleric.

During Ghadar and then Fitr festivities, Mehdi Karoubi’s house was again surrounded by plain-clothes agents as his house was damaged by fire while law enforcement officials merely watched the events from a distance.

In more recent months, security forces set up a post outside Mehdi Karoubi’s house and prevent visitors from entering the house, which include a senior cleric, ayatollah Bayat Zanjani. Mr. Karoubi’s wife told the press at the time that her house was under a temporary siege.

Following those violent events, Hossein Karoubi spoke with the media and informed the public of the attacks on his father’s house. The summons and questioning and charges raised against him last week pertain to the interrogations he gave regarding the attacks on his father’s house.

After leaving Evin, Hossein Karoubi told Rooz that he was released after several house of interrogations and was not formally charged with anything while the interrogations were all recorded in writing. Most of the questions were over the interview with Saham News, a website belonging to the Etemad Melli (National Unity) party.

Some newspapers had reported two days ago that Hossein Karoubi had been arrested. IN the meantime, Fatemeh Karoubi, Mehdi Karoubi’s wife told Rooz, “Hossein left the house at 10:30 am and I sent a couple of the kids along with him. They called us about 4pm and told us a man wearing a black shirt came out of Evin prison and said that Hossein had been arrested and that they should leave the scene. But eventually Hossein did come out of the prison.”

Mrs. Karoubi added that authorities were trying to exert pressure on the family these actions. She reiterated that none of these pressures would have any effect and that they would not be shaken off because of them.  “Look at what they are doing. They recently published a photograph of Mr. Karoubi belonging to the sixth Majlis when he was in hospital and are claiming that his health is not good, whereas in reality his health is fine and he is in great spirits and we feel sorry for the IRGC (i.e. Revolutionary Guards) website for publishing this claim and rejoicing at someone’s death while claiming to be Muslims. They are in fact expressing their hopes and wishes,” she concluded.