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Iran Students Protest Death Sentence for Second Day
Reuters
Sunday, November 10, 2002; 10:23 AM
By Paul Hughes
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Hundreds of Iranian students protested for a second day on Sunday, outraged at a death sentence for blasphemy imposed on a reformist academic that has ignited a battle for political control of the Islamic Republic.
The student protests, the biggest and most vocal pro-reform demonstrations for more than three years, came as Iran's reformist-controlled parliament approved a draft bill to limit the power of the hardline judiciary.
Reformist President Mohammad Khatami appears locked on a collision course with hardline rivals over legislation that directly challenges the powers they have used to block successive stabs at reform in the country of 65 million people.
But parliamentary debate of the bill, which would give Khatami the power to suspend court officials who violate the constitution, was overshadowed by mounting outrage over the sentencing of university lecturer Hashem Aghajari.
Two reformist legislators resigned in protest at the court verdict against Aghajari, who was convicted on Wednesday of blasphemy after he questioned the right of the clergy to rule.
"This verdict shows our judiciary hasn't improved even a little bit. This is a medieval verdict," Hossein Loqmanian, one of the two MPs who resigned, told Reuters.
A rally was held on Sunday for Aghajari at Tehran University, scene of a peaceful five-hour demonstration on Saturday night during which hundreds of students chanted "Political prisoners should be released" and "Freedom of thought forever."
Around 500 students crammed into an auditorium to hear speaker after speaker condemn the court verdict and sharply criticize the country's clerical and political leaders.
"We want Aghajari and his lawyer not to appeal the verdict to see what happens to him. If he is hanged, we will be next to him," one male student said to wild cheers and applause.
"They are executing a professor of the university just for speaking his opinion," said another.
STUDENTS BECOME BOLDER
Witnesses said the speeches were bolder than any heard from the student body for several years.
Iran's student movement, a key supporter of Khatami's reforms, has been subdued and rent by internal squabbles since a fierce security clampdown during six days of student-led unrest in 1999 that led to the arrest of many student leaders.
Khatami did not escape criticism at Sunday's rally. One speaker at the student rally said the mid-ranking cleric "only smiles beautifully and speaks nice words."
Radical reformists are calling on Khatami to resign if, as expected, the conservative-controlled Guardian Council blocks his proposed legislation. Khatami was re-elected for a four-year term last year in a landslide but his popularity has waned as the reform process has stalled.
Analysts say the recent arrest of a number of reformists, the death sentence against Aghajari and the closure of several polling institutes linked to Khatami's government shows the conservatives are in no mood to compromise.
"The recent crackdown on the reformist camp shows that they won't give the legislation a chance," said one analyst, who declined to be named.
Conservative commentators accused reformists of exploiting the Aghajari case in an effort to mask internal divisions.
"Aghajari's death sentence is a gift for them and they consider it a lifeline to get out of their bad situation and to create some hue and cry," said Hossein Shariatmadari, publisher of the hardline Kayhan newspaper.
Parliament Speaker Mehdi Karroubi called the verdict "political" but said many clerics also disagreed with it.
"As a cleric, who is also talking on behalf of a lot of senior clerics, I express my hatred toward this shameful sentence," he said.
Student leaders announced more protests for Monday and Tuesday and 181 legislators signed a letter of support for Karroubi's words.
Reformists and even some conservative commentators have called on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to intervene and spare Aghajari's life. So far Khamenei, who has the last word on all matters of state, has been silent on the matter.
-- Additional reporting by Khosro Nazari
? 2002 Reuters
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Iran Lawmakers Want Sentence Lifted
By Ali Akbar Dareini
Associated Press Writer
Sunday, November 10, 2002; 9:25 AM
TEHRAN, Iran ? Nearly two-thirds of Iran's parliament on Sunday called for lifting the death sentence of a reformist scholar convicted of insulting Islam and questioning hard-line clerics.
Parliament Speaker Mehdi Karroubi, in a speech broadcast live on state-run Tehran radio, said a hard-line court's sentence against university professor Hashem Aghajari was a "disgusting" verdict and the scholar should be released.
Responding to Karroubi's plea, 181 members of the 290-seat parliament signed a letter urging the lifting of the death sentence.
Aghajari, a history professor at Tarbiat-e-Modarres University in Tehran, was convicted of insulting the Prophet Muhammad and questioning the hard-line clergy's interpretation of Islam.
His conviction stems from a June speech in which he said the clerics' teachings on Islam were considered sacred simply because they were part of history and that each new generation should be able to interpret the faith on its own.
The comments enraged hard-liners, who organized street demonstrations in several Iranian cities and urged the courts to prosecute Aghajari, a supporter of social and political reforms of President Mohammad Khatami.
Aghajari was detained in August after a closed hearing and remains in custody. He was informed of the death ruling on Wednesday.
Opposition against the sentence is building. Two lawmakers from Hamedan province have resigned in protest and hundreds of students held a demonstration Saturday at Tehran University.
Karroubi, addressing the parliament, called on the hard-line judiciary to overturn the sentence "before we pay a heavier price for it."
A leading reformist legislator, Mohsen Armin, said the sentence portrays Islam as a religion of violence, and Iran's Islamic establishment as "dictatorial" nation.
Armin, a member of Aghajari's party, the pro-reform Islamic Revolution Mujahideen Organization, said the party won't request a pardon from the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. "Such a ruling could never be enforced and Aghajari should be released immediately," he said.
? 2002 The Associated Press
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washingtonpost.com
Iran's Parliament Approves Draft Reform Bill
Reuters
Sunday, November 10, 2002; 7:05 AM
By Parisa Hafezi
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's parliament on Sunday approved a draft bill to allow President Mohammad Khatami curb the power of the hardline judiciary, part of a bid to assert his authority over conservative rivals.
Khatami is locked in an apparent collision course with his hardline rivals with legislation that directly challenges their powers which they have used to block successive stabs at reform.
"Khatami presented the bill in order to stop constitutional violations," Vice-President Mohammad Ali Abtahi told parliament.
Elected in 1997 and re-elected in 2001 with landslide wins, Khatami has found his efforts to promote democracy blocked by conservatives who control the judiciary, armed forces and broadcast media.
He has introduced two bills to parliament aimed at limiting the power of the judiciary and curbing the Guardian Council's veto power over election candidates.
A large majority of deputies in the reformist-dominated parliament on Sunday backed the outlines of the bill which would give Khatami the power to recommend the sacking of officials who violate the constitution.
Another bill passed last week limits the conservative Guardian Council's power to veto election candidates.
The bills have to go through another reading in parliament.
But once passed, they, like all legislation, require the approval of the 12-man Guardian Council. Analysts say it is most unlikely the conservatives would agree to limit their own power.
The council has used its power to veto more than 50 bills in the past two years after judging them incompatible with Islamic law and the constitution, thus effectively blocking most of parliament's reform efforts.
DICTATORIAL POWERS
Khatami's conservative rivals said the constitutional powers bill would give too much authority to the head of executive and accused Khatami of seeking dictatorial powers.
Abtahi rejected the charges. "The only element in the system that is chosen by the people's direct vote and is supervised by different organizations cannot become a dictator," he said.
Analysts say the recent arrest of a number of reformists, the death sentence against one and the closure of polling centers shows hard-liners are in no mood to compromise over reform.
"The recent crackdown on the reformist camp shows they won't give the bills any chance," said one who declined to be named.
Khatami's allies said hard-liners were trying to intimidate reformists, especially the president, to withdraw the bills.
"The jailings and heavy sentences against outspoken reformists are to put pressure on Khatami to take back his bills," said MP Rajabali Mazroui.
The death sentence last week against leading reformist Hashem Aghajari for blasphemy after he questioned the clergy's right to rule the Islamic Republic has led to an outcry from reformists and protests from students.
Hundreds of students chanting "Political prisoners should be released!" protested against the judiciary on Saturday night in the biggest political demonstration for over three years.
Parliamentary Speaker Mehdi Karroubi joined the chorus of condemnation on Sunday.
"As a cleric who also is talking on behalf of a lot of senior clerics, I express my hatred toward this shameful sentence," he told parliament.
? 2002 Reuters
placeSiteMetrix();var SA_ID="wpost;wpost";[See the attached file]washingtonpost.com
Iran's Parliament Approves Draft Reform Bill
Reuters
Sunday, November 10, 2002; 7:05 AM
By Parisa Hafezi
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's parliament on Sunday approved a draft bill to allow President Mohammad Khatami curb the power of the hardline judiciary, part of a bid to assert his authority over conservative rivals.
Khatami is locked in an apparent collision course with his hardline rivals with legislation that directly challenges their powers which they have used to block successive stabs at reform.
"Khatami presented the bill in order to stop constitutional violations," Vice-President Mohammad Ali Abtahi told parliament.
Elected in 1997 and re-elected in 2001 with landslide wins, Khatami has found his efforts to promote democracy blocked by conservatives who control the judiciary, armed forces and broadcast media.
He has introduced two bills to parliament aimed at limiting the power of the judiciary and curbing the Guardian Council's veto power over election candidates.
A large majority of deputies in the reformist-dominated parliament on Sunday backed the outlines of the bill which would give Khatami the power to recommend the sacking of officials who violate the constitution.
Another bill passed last week limits the conservative Guardian Council's power to veto election candidates.
The bills have to go through another reading in parliament.
But once passed, they, like all legislation, require the approval of the 12-man Guardian Council. Analysts say it is most unlikely the conservatives would agree to limit their own power.
The council has used its power to veto more than 50 bills in the past two years after judging them incompatible with Islamic law and the constitution, thus effectively blocking most of parliament's reform efforts.
DICTATORIAL POWERS
Khatami's conservative rivals said the constitutional powers bill would give too much authority to the head of executive and accused Khatami of seeking dictatorial powers.
Abtahi rejected the charges. "The only element in the system that is chosen by the people's direct vote and is supervised by different organizations cannot become a dictator," he said.
Analysts say the recent arrest of a number of reformists, the death sentence against one and the closure of polling centers shows hard-liners are in no mood to compromise over reform.
"The recent crackdown on the reformist camp shows they won't give the bills any chance," said one who declined to be named.
Khatami's allies said hard-liners were trying to intimidate reformists, especially the president, to withdraw the bills.
"The jailings and heavy sentences against outspoken reformists are to put pressure on Khatami to take back his bills," said MP Rajabali Mazroui.
The death sentence last week against leading reformist Hashem Aghajari for blasphemy after he questioned the clergy's right to rule the Islamic Republic has led to an outcry from reformists and protests from students.
Hundreds of students chanting "Political prisoners should be released!" protested against the judiciary on Saturday night in the biggest political demonstration for over three years.
Parliamentary Speaker Mehdi Karroubi joined the chorus of condemnation on Sunday.
"As a cleric who also is talking on behalf of a lot of senior clerics, I express my hatred toward this shameful sentence," he told parliament.
November 10, 2002 Reuters
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