But extensive press coverage about the issue made people aware that the regime was attempting to limit their choices, and apparently they fought back by voting. The elections, whether seen as a victory or defeat reform, are only one of the challenges that will test the government of Iranian President Mohammad Khatami and his commitment to reform in the months ahead. Last week, UN human rights official Maurice Copithorne called for the abolition of the Special Court for the Clergy. And then, Islamic intellectual Hojatoleslam Mohsen Kadivar was arrested on the orders of the Special Court. The Special Court for the Clergy was established in 1986-87 at the urging of Hojatoleslam Mohammad Mohammadi Reyshahri to pursue a case against Hojatoleslam Mehdi Hashemi.
Penalties imposed by the court include death and imprisonment.
It is this court which has sentenced many leading clerics to house arrest. He spoke favorably about dissident cleric Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, disrespectfully about the leadership, and insultingly about the founder of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Also, he undermined public confidence in the Special Court. As for the anti-Khomeini charge, he said, that stemmed from misunderstanding Kadivar's comments about nationalist Premier Mohammad Musaddiq. Just as there was a sharp public reaction last month to the attack on Hojatoleslam Hadi Khamenei in Qom, there has been a sharp reaction to this arrest.