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Minister of State Link calls for the release of Iranian opposition leaders
Today, exactly one year after the arrest of Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Moussavi, Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office Michael Link issued the following statement:
“The increasing number of reports of arbitrary arrests and restrictive measures carried out against representatives of political and civil society groups in Iran is extremely disturbing.
I strongly urge the Iranian Government to release Mehdi Karroubi, Mir Hossein Moussavi and their wives immediately.
In the area of human rights, Iran has extensive international obligations, above all within the framework of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which has been ratified by the Iranian Government. Like every other country that is party to the Covenant, Iran is obliged to respect the basic rights of all its citizens.”
On 14 February 2011, Iranian opposition leaders Mir Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi and their wives were placed under house arrest without trial. Their fate remains uncertain. According to media reports, Iranian security forces have also threatened Moussavi’s daughters with reprisals several times.