Mousavi faces 10 years' imprisonmentJuly 2, 2009 - 12:42 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Iran's embattled opposition leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi, faces a new threat after the Basiji militia accused him of "offences against the state" and "disturbing the nation's security", charges which carry a sentence of 10 years' imprisonment.The militia, which played a key role in the brutal suppression of street protests, has become known as the "enforcers" of the country's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and are unlikely to have made the allegations against Mr Mousavi without receiving his authorisation to do so. The Basiji high command wrote to the chief prosecutor asking him to take action over Mr Mousavi. It claimed that "evidence" would follow which showed his culpability in the disturbances over the disputed elections. Mr Mousavi broke a week-long silence yesterday to denounce the election result as a "coup". "A majority of the people - including me - do not accept its political legitimacy," he said of the government, adding: "There's a danger ahead. A ruling system which relied on people's trust for 30 years cannot replace this trust with security forces overnight." He was joined by Mehdi Karoubi, another candidate, and the reformist ex-president Mohammed Khatami in making statements which bring them into further conflict with Ayatollah Khamenei who has upheld the result and declared that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the winner. The men said that it was their "historic responsibility to continue our protests and not to abandon our efforts to preserve the nation's rights". Mr Mousavi asked for the release of the "children of the revolution" who had been taken away by the police and the Basiji. Earlier, state television said that all but one of nine Iranians who worked for the British embassy in Tehran had been released, The Independent reported. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Armenia: Protesters march to parliament, some spend the night on street The protesters did not disperse despite heavy rain that began at around 2 a.m. local time. Concept to complete Yerevan Cascade discussed at city hall A conceptual proposal to complete the Cascade complex in downtown Yerevan has been presented by Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Pashinyan visits flood-hit region Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Saturday, June 8 visited the disaster area in the Lori province. €3.5 mln EU grant to support justice reforms in Armenia The European Union has paid €3.5 mln grant to Armenia within a €11mln program on Support to Justice Reforms. |