men and women can follow a female Islamic jurists' ijtihad. Suicide bombing He is particularly noteworthy for issuing a fatwa in which he declared suicide bombing as haram and a "terrorist act". 2009 Iranian election During the 2009 Iranian election protests, rumours arose that he had issued a religious edict proclaiming that Mr. Ahmedinejad was "not the president and that it is forbidden to cooperate with his government." These rumours were reported as such by several internet news agencies. Forced confessions He is reported to have said during a 12 August speech at Gorgan that "Confession in prison and detention has not been and is not valid ... all persons who have somehow been involved in issuing these confessions are sharing same sin ... they will receive the retribution of their perfidious acts in this world and in a fair, righteous court." Islamic democracy Saanei was an outspoken Islamic democracy activist and has even called for the "discussion" of the clerical control of the Iranian government. He held that the Velayat-e-faqih should have the support of the people (i.e. be elected). Ethnic minorities Having studied in clerical schools in Qom, Iraq and Tabriz; Saanei was raised fluent in the Persian, Arabic and Azerbaijani languages. After the death of Hossein Ali Montazeri According to one report, Saanei was likely to replace Hossein-Ali Montazeri as the leading clerical opponent of the regime and to be even more aggressive. Saanei declared the government illegitimate and warned that it "cannot reverse the situation in the country with terror, killing, torture and imprisonment." A day after the funeral procession of Montazeri, around 1,000 members of Iran's Basij militia and "plainclothes men" attacked offices of Saanei in the central shrine city of Qom, a reformist website reported on 22 December 2009. The plainclothes militiamen broke the windows of Saanei's office and insulted him and his staff and also beat up his staff. They also put up posters of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who has been a staunch defender of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's controversial June re-election and who ordered a post-election crackdown on opposition protests. Police sided with the militia and prevented Saanei's supporters from defending his office, the website said. There was no immediate official comment. However, earlier on Tuesday, the semi-official Fars News Agency said pro-government theology students had staged a rally in Qom to protest "the insult against sanctifies" during Montazeri's funeral