Ghorban Behzadiannejad, the chief aide to Iranian opposition leader MirHosein Mousavi, was recalled to Evin prison just one day after former president Mohammad Khatami urged the Islamic Republic establishment to move toward a national reconciliation by releasing all political prisoners.
Kaleme opposition network reports that Behzadiannejad, who ran MirHosein Mousavi’s campaign headquarters during the controversial 2009 presidential elections, was called back to prison yesterday, May 24.
He was first briefly arrested in July of 2009 during the post-election crackdown on the opposition. Following his release, he was again detained in December of the same year, as protests continued against the disputed victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
He was sentenced to five years in prison and released last September on $500,000 bail.
Several of Mousavi’s senior aides in the election of 2009 have been arrested and given harsh prison sentences for the charge of acting against national security by alleging fraud in the elections.
Mousavi, who was the chief opponent of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the 2009 election, is currently under house arrest together with his wife.
In the two years that have followed the disputed 2009 election, thousands of protesters have been arrested and dozens have been killed. Numerous reports from Islamic Republic prisons also indicate that detainees have been subjected to severe torture and abuse.
