Hashem Aghajari
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Seyyed Hashem Aghajari ( fa, سیدهاشم آقاجری, born 1957) is an Iranian historian, university professor and a critic of the
Islamic Republic The term Islamic republic has been used in different ways. Some Muslim religious leaders have used it as the name for a theoretical form of Islamic theocratic government enforcing sharia, or laws compatible with sharia. The term has also been u ...
's government who was sentenced to death in 2002 for
apostasy Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that ...
for a speech he gave on Islam urging Iranians to "not blindly follow" Islamic clerics. In 2004, after domestic Iranian and international outcry, his sentence was reduced to five years in prison.


Overview

Hashem Aghajari served in the Iran-Iraq War where he lost his right leg below the knee,"Liberal martyrdom in Iran", Charles Paul Freund. ''Reason''. Los Angeles: February 2003. Vol. 34, Iss. 9; pg. 18, 2 pgs and his brother. He has been described as having an "impeccable Islamic revolutionary record."9 November, 2002, Iran death sentence angers reformists
/ref> He was a history professor at
Tarbiat Modares University Tarbiat Modares University ( fa, دانشگاه تربیت مدرس:  ''Dāneshgāh-e Tarbiyat Modares'', lit. "Professor Training University") is an exclusively graduate university with its main campus in Tehran, Iran. It was founded in 1982 a ...
,Juan Cole, Informed Comment, Amnesty International Appeal for Dr. Aghajari
/ref> a teacher-training college in Tehran. In June 2002, Aghajari gave an address in
Hamadan Hamadan () or Hamedan ( fa, همدان, ''Hamedān'') (Old Persian: Haŋgmetana, Ecbatana) is the capital city of Hamadan Province of Iran. At the 2019 census, its population was 783,300 in 230,775 families. The majority of people living in Ham ...
commemorating the 25th anniversary of the death of Dr.
Ali Shariati Ali Shariati Mazinani ( fa, علی شریعتی مزینانی, 23 November 1933 – 18 June 1977) was an Iranian revolutionary and sociologist who focused on the sociology of religion. He is held as one of the most influential Iranian intell ...
, criticized some of the present
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
ic practices in Iran as being in contradiction with the original practices and ideology of
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
, and calling for " Islamic Protestantism" and reform in Islam. This prompted an "immediate outcry" from hard-line clerics, who claimed that he was attacking "the Prophet of Islam and fundamental Shiite Islamic traditions", although Dr. Aghajari has repeatedly denied that his speech was intended as an attack on Islam or the Prophet.


Arrest, trial, sentence and imprisonment

He was arrested 8 August. The trial was criticized not only for its harshness but for falling "far short of international standards of
due process Due process of law is application by state of all legal rules and principles pertaining to the case so all legal rights that are owed to the person are respected. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual per ...
," being "conducted behind closed doors", and giving the defendant "only limited access to his lawyer." According to the conservative newspaper Jumhuri Eslami, the Supreme Leader's order was (at first) "flagrantly" ignored by prosecutor general Abdolnabi Namazi.Christopher de Bellaigue, ''The Struggle for Iran'', New York Review of Books, 2007, p.47 According to ''The Economist'' magazine, Supreme leader Khamenei ordered the judiciary to review Aghajari's death sentence, but "hardliners in the judiciary at first ignored" his order "then assigned their least lenient judges to the review." Although other controversial death sentences have been reduced on appeal, Aghajari refused to appeal the ruling, announcing through his lawyer that "those who have issued this verdict have to implement it if they think it is right or else the judiciary has to handle it." While in prison his family reported that Aghajari's amputated leg stub was bruised and infected and that he was "unable to stand up, walk or use the prison's hygiene facilities." The human rights group, Amnesty International, campaigned against the sentence. The death sentence was denounced by many. The Iranian parliament, President Mohammad Khatami, and Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri condemned it. Demonstrations against the sentence began the day after it was made public on November 6. They are thought to have attracted no more than 5000 participants but nonetheless were "the most serious protests in Iran since 1999" and are thought to have provoked Supreme Leader
Ali Khamenei Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei ( fa, سید علی حسینی خامنه‌ای, ; born 19 April 1939) is a Twelver Shia '' marja and the second and current Supreme Leader of Iran, in office since 1989. He was previously the third presiden ...
to order a review of the verdict and a threat to use "popular forces" (
basij The Basij ( fa, بسيج, lit. "The Mobilization"), Niru-ye Moghāvemat-e Basij ( fa, نیروی مقاومت بسیج, "Resistance Mobilization Force"), full name Sâzmân-e Basij-e Mostaz'afin ( fa, سازمان بسیج مستضعفین, "The ...
) against the demonstrators.Christopher de Bellaigue, ''The Struggle for Iran'', New York Review of Books, 2007, p.39 The sentence was later commuted to three years in jail, two years in probation, and five years' suspension of his
social rights Economic, social and cultural rights, (ESCR) are socio-economic human rights, such as the right to education, right to housing, right to an adequate standard of living, right to health, victims' rights and the right to science and culture. Econo ...
by the Supreme Court of Iran. In May 2004 the original regional court reinstated the death sentence, but the next month Iran's Supreme Court again reduced it."Iranian Professor Freed From Prison," RICHARD MONASTERSKY, '' The Chronicle of Higher Education,'' Washington: August 13, 2004. Vol. 50, Iss. 49; pg. A.40 He was released from prison July 31, 2004 after paying a bail of $122,500, according to the Associated Press.


Explanation

According to Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, a "leading Iranian newspaper editor and confidant of Iranian President
Mohammad Khatami Sayyid Mohammad Khatami ( fa, سید محمد خاتمی, ; born 14 October 1943) is an Iranian politician who served as the fifth president of Iran from 3 August 1997 to 3 August 2005. He also served as Iran's Minister of Culture from 1982 ...
" interviewed by
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
magazine, the arrest and stiff sentence were an attempt to distract attention from two bills to increase the power of president and curb the hard-liner conservatives' supervisory power which reformist President Khatami had introduced into Parliament. The failure of Iran's
Hezbollah Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...
paramilitaries to make "a serious attempt to break up" the peaceful reformist student protests over the sentence was thought to be associated with Supreme Leader Khamenei's implicit criticism of the sentence and the "impartiality" of his failing to side with conservative hardliners.


Publications

* ''The Role Of The Policies Of The Successors Of The Malikshah In The Political Instability Of The Seljuk State'', 2018 (Co-author) * ''The challenge of carpet job-shop in the Qajar period with developments affected by the Industrial Revolution'', Journal of Iranian Islamic Period History 2021. (Co-author) * ''The Influence of Nader Shah's Militarism Policies on the Iranian Foreign Trade'', Journal of Iranian Islamic Period History 2018. (Co-author) * * * * *


Awards and honors

* Jan Karski Award for Moral Courage (2003)


See also

*
Human rights in Islamic Republic of Iran Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, an ...
* Chained Murders of Iran


References


External links

*
BBC Persian article on Aghajari's new sentence

Text of offending June 2002 speech




* ttps://nawaat.org/author/hashem-aghajari/ Hashem Aghajari at nawaat.org
Hashem Aghari- Digital Library

Hashem Aghajari's profile at Modares UniversityHashem Aghajari case at Amnesty International

Hashem Aghari's list of other publications
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aghajari, Hashem Iranian essayists Iranian writers Living people 1957 births Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution of Iran Organization politicians Tarbiat Modares University faculty Prisoners sentenced to death by Iran Iranian prisoners sentenced to death People charged with apostasy in Iran Members of the National Council for Peace