Yesterday, a photocopied sheet of paper was circulated among reporters covering the ‎Iranian Parliament, the Majlis. The sheet of paper was none other than the court ‎summons of Akbar Alami, current representative from Tabriz. ‎

According to ISNA and Fars news agencies, the Majlis leadership has served a summons ‎on Akbar Alami, requiring him to appear for explanations at the administrative court ‎within three days of the service of the summons. The summons references part of a ‎speech Alami delivered to a group of reformist activists in the remote town of Zanjan on ‎Azar 9 of last year [November 30, 2007]. ‎

In that speech, while criticizing Ahmadinejad, Alami said, “Imam Hussein [the third Shia ‎Imam who was martyred] can form a cabinet too, but because I have taken an oath to ‎defend the rights of the people and the nation’s interests, if I determine that the Imam’s ‎cabinet has undermined the Constitution, I will impeach that Imam’s cabinet.” In the ‎same speech, Alami also criticized the seventh Majlis: “Today, the Majlis has been ‎relegated to the sidelines, but if it was powerful, it would have impeached the President ‎with a vote of no confidence.” ‎

Only parts of Alami’s speech were published in Iranian media, and Iran daily printed ‎parts of Alami’s talk under the headline of “I will even criticize Imam Hussein’s cabinet” ‎in its December 10, 2007 issue.‎

The Friday prayer leader of Tabriz attacked Alami for his speech, noting, “Certainly, the ‎faithful people of Azarbaijan will respond appropriately to insults that target their holy ‎beliefs.” ‎

Following the Tabriz Friday prayer leader’s remarks, several attempts took place to deal ‎with Alami, but none of which were successful. Nevertheless, the head of Eastern ‎Azarbaijan’s Hezbollah militia threatened that “Alami has crossed the red line of beliefs ‎and this is not excusable in any way. The people of Tabriz have themselves asked to ‎throw Alami out of the Majlis, and are even willing to conduct a public and revolutionary ‎trial of Alami if the government or judiciary fail to do so.” ‎

Following complaints from various groups, including the Hezbollah, Akbar Alami was ‎disqualified from participating in the eight Majlis elections. Alami then set a deadline for ‎the Guardian Council to reconsider its decision to disqualify him, and threatened to ‎uncover sensitive information on his website. ‎

When Alami’s disqualification was not overturned, he wrote in a report on his website ‎under the headline, “What happened at the Guardian Council,” that he was told by a ‎Guardian Council’s representative that he was disqualified for his “criticism of the ‎administration.” ‎

Following the Majlis elections, Alami published another report on his website, in which ‎he claimed that an analysis of silent votes indicate that, despite the invitations of all the ‎regime’s officials, from the supreme leader to commanders of the Revolutionary Guards, ‎a considerable percentage of the Iranian population has said no to the regime’s high ‎officials. ‎

Some experts believe that Alami’s writings on his website also contributed to his ‎summons to appear in court.‎