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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (70723)	2/1/2003 1:42:07 AM
From: D. Long	Respond to of 281500

I thought I read on BBC that the death sentence of the dissident academic Aghajari had been reversed, but apparently it was just a comment made by the Iranian Parliamentary speaker. Don't know how much weight to ascribe to it. If true, it shows the cracks are widening... news.com.au ---------------------------------------------------------- Iranian dissident 'to be freed' By Siavosh Ghazi and Hossein Jasseb in Tehran TENSIONS were simmering in Iran today over a death sentence for a popular liberal academic, with a leading reformist lawmaker saying he would soon be freed and students gathering for their largest protest in years. Parliamentary speaker Mehdi Karubi said Hashem Aghajari, a critic of the conservative clergy's leading role in the Islamic republic, would be released shortly and his case had been "settled". "I say to his family that (the execution) will not take place and even that with the help of God he will soon return to his family," Karubi told parliament in a speech broadcast on state radio. It was unclear whether he was speaking from personal conviction or some deal had been done to win Aghajari's release. The 45-year-old Aghajari, who teaches history at Tehran University and was arrested August 8, was sentenced to death for apostasy and insulting the leaders of early Islam. He called in a speech for a reform of Iran's state Shiite religion and said Muslims were not "monkeys" to blindly follow the teachings of senior clerics. The close ally of reformist President Mohammed Khatami, who also lost a leg in the 1980-88 war with Iraq, was further sentenced to eight years in jail, 74 lashes and a 10-year ban on teaching. His sentences have not yet been officially conveyed to the defence. There is a 20-day period during which appeals can be lodged. Karubi claimed the sentencing of Aghajari on Wednesday by a court in Hamedan, western Iran, where the liberal academic made his offending speech earlier this year, was "the decision of a single judge". In an open letter, 178 deputies voiced their support today for Karubi and called on judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmud Hashemi-Shahrudi to overturn the verdict and set Aghajari free. Two reformist MPs from Hamedan, Mohammad Reza Ali Hosseini and Hassan Loghmanian, also submitted their resignations in protest. "It is clear that the parliament is ineffective and these verdicts are continuing. Our electorate is asking questions and we cannot answer them," Loghmanian said. "That is why we have resigned to protest against this mediaeval penalty." Loghmanian said other MPs could follow suit, though they need the approval of parliament to resign. At Tehran University about 1200 students, about half of them women, gathered inside a lecture hall to also denounce "the mediaeval verdict" against Aghajari in the biggest political rally in the Islamic Republic in more than three years. Some 400 students gathered for a similar protest last night. In July 1999, a demonstration on the same campus was crushed by hardline Islamic volunteers. That led to another six days of deadly clashes with security services which landed dozens of students in jail. "These men in power should know that we will not accept these provocations. For us, Aghajari is the symbol of the post-revolution," Akbar Atri, from Iran's largest student movement, the Federation of Islamic Associations of University Students of Iran, said. "We have nothing to lose. If we condemn Aghajari for a one-hour speech, that means all students should be quiet," another student said. One student carried a picture of Aghajari and a poster with the words: "Even if they strangle me, I will not sacrifice the truth." Even many conservatives have denounced the death sentence. One of them, MP Mohammad Abutorabi, told his colleagues he was convinced the verdict would be commuted by a higher court, "by virtue of Islamic mercy". The conservative daily Ressalat said justice and mercy went hand in hand, indicating it wanted supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to step in. Khamenei, who has the final say in all state matters, was "a teacher, who by his behaviour and his right to pardon, will show the sense of moral qualities". Agence France-Presse