Rajavi calls on people to take part in his funeral and chant “Down with Khamenei,” “Down with principle of Valayat-e Faqih” and asked clergy to follow up his decree to depose Khamenei
NCRI – Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, expressed her condolences over the death of Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri and called on clergy and theologians in seminaries to follow up his decree; abrogating Khamenei’s tyrannical rule and emphasizing the need to depose him from the post he has usurped in open violation of Iranian people’s sovereignty. Mrs. Rajavi called on people to take part in his funeral service and chant “Down with Khamenei” and “Down with principle of Valayat-e Faqih (absolute of clergy).”
For the first ten years of the clerical rule, Ayatollah Montazeri was appointed as the successor of Khomeini, founder and leader of the regime. In March 1989, he was dismissed by Khomeini for his protest against the massacre of PMOI members and the opponents of the regime. In this massacre some 30,000 political prisoners were executed in a matter of few weeks. Mrs. Rajavi reiterated that Mr. Montazeri’s biggest honor of his lifetime was the order by Khomeini deposing him as his successor.
Few days after the beginning of massacre of the political prisoners in late July 1988, he wrote to Khomeini on July 31 saying: “Execution of several thousand within a few days is not going to have a pleasant reaction…” and “if you insist on your order, at least order to exempt women, especially women with children.”
In a letter on August 15, 1988 he wrote: "Such massacres without trail, particularly when the victims are prisoners and those in captivity, will definitely benefit them (the PMOI) in the long run… It is wrong to confront ideas and ideologies with killing… PMOI are not individuals; they represent an ideology and a world outlook. They have a logic. It takes right logic to answer wrong logic. You cannot rectify wrong with killing; you only spread it.” In another letter to Khomeini he protested against "raping virgin young girls in prisons."
After his dismissal, Ayatollah Montazeri was persistently subjected to pressures by Iranian regime and he lived in Qum under house arrest or severe restrictions. Following the escalation of Iranian people's nationwide uprising, in a decree, Montazeri called for Khamenei's dismissal and warned that Khamenei should learn from the fate of the Shah's dictatorship.
During the last months of his life, Montazeri announced that as "one of the founders of Velyat-e-Faqih" I feel ashamed of myself and before the almighty God I see the blame for the blood that was shed from our dear martyrs and for violations that have occurred against the rights of innocent people."
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
December 20, 2009