http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126129141238099009.html
DECEMBER 20, 2009, 6:51 A.M. ET Death of Iran's Top Dissident Cleric Prompts Protests By FARNAZ FASSIHI BEIRUT -- Iran's top dissident cleric, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, 87 years old, died in his sleep on Saturday night, his family said, drawing supporters to the holy city of Qom on Sunday to pay their respects. The impromptu mourning -- with reformist supporters reportedly streaming in from Tehran and further afield -- threatens to set the stage for another confrontation between opposition protesters and government forces. Antiregime demonstrators have used government-sanctioned holidays and Islamic holy days to rally publicly against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who won contested presidential elections in June. Spontaneous protests erupted across several cities in Iran and at university campuses, according to video circulating on the Internet Sunday afternoon. In one clip in Najaf-Adad, Mr. Montezeri's home town, crowds chanted, "Our green Montazeri, congratulations on your freedom," and "Montazeri, your path will continue." In another video, students marched at Elmo Sanaat University in Tehran holding pictures of the cleric and chanting, "It's a day of mourning in Iran, The Green People of Iran are in mourning." Opposition web sites reported Iranian authorities had stepped up security in and around Qom. More on Iran AFP/Getty Images A file picture dated Jan. 30, 2003 shows Iran's oldest dissident cleric, Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri. The death comes at a crucial moment in this year's antigovernment protests, the biggest since the Iranian revolution more than 30 years ago. In recent months, demonstrations have turned from protests against the handling of the election to often-angry renunciations of the Islamic regime itself, and its current Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The death also comes a day after Iranian military prosecutors issued charges against 12 prison officials implicated in the death by torture of at least three people arrested and detained during protests this summer. The ruling, reversing months of denials by the government over abuse allegations, could provide a measure of moral vindication to the protest movement. That could further galvanize protesters at a time when the government itself appears split over how to end the unrest. Mr. Montazeri, frail in recent years, was once in line to succeed Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, as Supreme Leader. But he and Mr. Khomeini fell out in the late 1980s. Mr. Montazeri then gained a large spiritual following because of his advocacy of reform inside the Islamic Republic and his calls for more democracy in Iran. His vaulted religious standing in Iran's clerical establishment -- he outranked even Mr. Khamenei in terms of his position as an Islamic scholar -- mostly protected him over the years as he criticized the government. But in the past six months, Mr. Montazeri's role became more prominent, dovetailing with demands by protesters who rallied against what they saw as a stolen election in June by Mr. Ahmadinejad. He aligned himself with the so-called Green Movement, led by opposition candidates who lost to Mr. Ahmadinejad, and he voiced harsh criticism of the behavior of Iran's ruling establishment, which has cracked down hard on protests. At one point, he went so far as to call the government of Mr. Ahmadinejad illegitimate. On Sunday, as news of Mr. Montazeri's death spread, an impromptu procession of mourners began in the Shiite holy city of Qom, where he resided. Thousands of people began marching toward his home, and supporters began streaming into the city from Tehran and other cities, according to opposition websites. His family announced that a funeral procession will be held on Monday in Qom, about 60 kilometers south of Tehran. Opposition Web sites reported that the army had deployed a Special Forces and antiriot unit to Qom in order to monitor the crowds and prevent the mourning gathering from turning political. Because of press restrictions, it was impossible to immediately verify those accounts. By midday Sunday, opposition Web sites were calling on supporters to join them for Mr. Montazeri's funeral. Mr. Montazeri accused Mr. Khamenei, the current Supreme Leader, of creating a dictatorship in the name of Islam. The regime sidelined him from mainstream politics. He was placed under house arrest from 1997 to 2003. Mr. Montazeri's unexpected death coincides with the ten-day Muharram religious ceremonies, during which Shiites Muslims hold emotionally charged street processions and mourning ceremonies for the slain Shiite saint Imam Hossein. The opposition had vowed to mark this year's ceremonies with massive daily protests against the government. The opposition also received a significant morale boost over the weekend after Iranian officials said they'd press charges against military officials implicated in some of the worst allegations of violence stemming from this year's protests. In a surprise shift on Saturday, Iranian military prosecutors alleged at least three individuals died in custody as a result of torture at Kahrizak detention center, directly challenging the account of prison deaths provided so far by the government of Mr. Ahmadinejad. Prosecutors said three prison officials, all from Iran's armed forces, had been charged with first-degree murder, and another nine military officials at the detention center face other criminal charges, though it wasn't clear specifically what the other charges were. Kahrizak had been a main depository for prisoners rounded up by security officials during the unrest that followed June elections in Iran. At the height of that unrest, about 140 protesters had been taken to Kahrizak, located in the outskirts of Southern Tehran. Three young men died while in custody, one of them was the son of a conservative politician. Mr. Ahmadinejad's government vehemently denied allegations of abuse. Senior security and police officials made multiple public statements saying the cause of death for the three was a meningitis outbreak in prison. The victims' parents contested the official accounts and said their sons' bodies had visible signs of torture and beating. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered Kahrizak shut down in late July, and a special parliament committee began investigating allegations of abuse shortly after. In a statement on Saturday, military prosecutors confirmed evidence suggesting death by torture. "The coroner's office has rejected that meningitis was the cause of the deaths and has confirmed the existence of signs of repeated beatings on the bodies and has declared that the wounds inflicted were the cause of the deaths," according to the statement posted on the website of official Iranian news agencies. A 26-year-old doctor, Ramin Pourandarjani, who had examined the dead Kahrizak detainees and written their medial reports, mysteriously died in early November from poisoning. His family says he was murdered because he refused his superiors' orders to cover up crimes at Kahrizak and falsify medical reports. An investigation into his death is being undertaken by the government. Dr. Pourandarjani testified before the special parliamentarian committee investigating the crimes in the Fall and told lawmakers that prisoners had died of severe blows to their heads and bodies. The military prosecutors' statement doesn't mention Dr. Pourandarjani. But it does say that prosecutors based their final conclusion on medical reports of detainees and witness testimonies made to the parliament committee. Dr. Pourandarjani is believed to have been the only person in a position to provide these. Write to Farnaz Fassihi at [email protected] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
