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Source: http://www.economist.com/node/21592567/
Hopes Fade for Iran's Jailed Reformists
(Economist-UK) Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, opposition presidential candidates who in 2009 drew hundreds of thousands to the streets in protest against President Ahmadinejad's re-election, have been confined under house arrest for almost three years. On December 30, high-ranking Iranian officials insisted that Karroubi and Mousavi remain under lock and key. Muhammad Reza Naghdi, commander of the powerful Basij militia, said, "Sedition leaders...should be punished and should be a lesson for everyone." Prosecutor-General Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei said the two had been spared harsher punishment and merely placed under house arrest because of the "kindness" of the system. Working to release political prisoners, including the two leaders under house arrest, was one of President Hassan Rouhani's key campaign promises.