Kaveh Barzegar

Ahmad Ghabel, a prominent religious reformist and dissident intellectual residing in Iran, ‎published a piece on his personal blog last week reacting to the arrest of his brother, Hadi ‎Ghabel, in which he blasted the Islamic Republic's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, ‎accusing him of grandiosity, undermining the Constitution, committing anti-Islamic acts and ‎‎"overthrowing the Islamic Republic." ‎

This reformist cleric writes, "That Mr. Khamenei insists that no other opinion or vote other than ‎his be counted, for instance, in the nuclear issue, what name does that have other than ‎‎'dictatorship' or 'dictatorship of one vote?' That everyone must shut up so whenever he feels ‎necessary, he can give the order to start relations with the United States, has no name other than ‎‎'dictatorship of one vote,' and no meaning or message other than 'forcing individuals to abide by ‎his vote.' Dictatorship has no definition other than 'dictating one's opinion on others.'" ‎

Ghabel referenced Article 107 of the Islamic Republic's Constitution, which states, "The Leader ‎is equal with the rest of the people of the country in the eyes of law," and writes, "Certainly this ‎text was not inserted into the Constitution for laughter or decoration. I believe no one doubts the ‎fact that there is no recourse for seeking a complaint against the supreme leader that would give ‎the complainers a just and equal forum for voicing their demands. The absence, or improbability ‎of the presence of such an institution, demonstrates the unjust, illegitimate, and illegal behavior ‎of governmental institutions that have officially announced that the supreme leader's words are ‎above law and necessarily enforceable." ‎

In another part of his pieces, Ghabel blamed the policies of the Islamic Republic's supreme ‎leader as responsible for the demise of the Islamic Republic, affirming, "As an Iranian citizen, I ‎accuse the supreme leader and the governing gang of 'overthrowing the Islamic Republic through ‎openly repressing those criticizing the policies of the gang, taking a host of actions that ‎undermine national security, insulting the nation and especially the cultured elite, and engaging ‎in repeated and widespread publication of lies to disorient public opinion, as well as blatantly ‎disrespecting the position of the clergy,' and await the coming of a day in which there is a ‎possibility of examining these accusations justly in an open trial and in the presence of a jury, as ‎well as unbiased judge or judges." ‎

Ghabel's critical letter was censored by the print media inside Iran, as well as news websites ‎based in Iran. Not even a mention of the existence of such a letter was reported inside Iran. ‎However, since its publication, the letter has received much attention in websites and blogs on ‎the Internet. ‎

It is illegal to criticize the supreme leader in the Islamic Republic. Conservative MP's in the fifth ‎Majlis passed a law that sets a 6-month imprisonment sentence for criticizing the supreme leader. ‎The Islamic Republic's judiciary interprets any criticism of the supreme leader or institutions ‎under his control as an 'insult,' and has convicted dozens of people over the years on numerous ‎occasions. ‎