In a decision that may cost him his life, Iranian history professor Hashem Aghajari urged students and supporters on November 15 to abide by the law that has him facing a death sentence for challenging conservative clerics' interpretation of Islam.
Aghajari has become a galvanizing figure in the struggle between reformists allied to President Mohammed Khatami and conservative clerics who control powerful Iranian institutions, including the judicial system. In June, Aghajari made a speech affirming the idea that each generation can interpret Islamic law in its own way. He had also called for the emergence of an Islamic reformer who could introduce modernity to Islam. Two months later, authorities responded to outcry from conservatives and arrested him. He received a death sentence for apostasy on November 7 and decided not to appeal it. On November 15, he issued statements through his family urging supportive students to respect national laws in their protests.
Aghajari's case stirs questions about what sorts of laws should bind Iranians, though. Students who support him believe the country should protect free speech, a position with which President Khatami sympathizes. A journalist and war veteran, Aghajari lost his brother as well as the use of one of his legs in the Iran-Iraq war. He has also held public positions and belongs to an organization, the Mujaheddin of the Islamic Revolution, with strong ties to Khatami's reform movement.
The protests over the death sentence, which was handed down by a closed court, have raised concern among reformers about the democratization process. Khatami recently submitted two laws to Parliament that would limit the power of the hard-line Guardian Council to block reform or suppress dissent. Parliament passed one of these laws on November 10, but the Supreme Council can nullify both of them. Fearing that a lukewarm response to the death sentence may embolden the hard-liners to exercise their veto power, reformists have mobilized protesters to reverse the sentence. Khatami and a host of dignitaries including clerics and Parliament Speaker Mehdi Karoubi have condemned the decision. The normally placid Karoubi voiced "disgust over the verdict" on November 10.
At the same time, reformists have mobilized university students and academics in the campaign to nullify the sentence. Several academics have signed petitions in solidarity with Aghajari and many classrooms (and even whole universities) have shut down. Meanwhile the student movement, which has been apolitical and dormant for the last three years, shows signs of political activism again. Students have held rallies at Tehran University and elsewhere, calling for the judiciary's leader to step down. Some have called for the reform-minded Khatami to step aside, indicating exasperation with the slow pace of reform, and for making Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini accountable to the public. Aghajari, meanwhile, refused to overtly challenge his fate. While applauding the support given him, he said through his lawyer: "If the head of the judiciary thinks this is a fair verdict, so be it, let him carry it out."
According to some observers, conservatives remain divided on the issue. While Khatami has plainly warned that the carrying out of the sentence could cause "problems," Khameini has been more reserved. On November 12, the Supreme Leader criticized "those branches of the government whose misguided policies discredits the Islamic Republic" and threatened to rebuke them publicly. He also threatened to unleash "the forces of the people" in response to the protests. While some have interpreted this as a promise to commission militias, the words are ambiguous. Both reformists and conservatives see high stakes in Aghajari's case and the professor himself, by refusing to show his hand, could see his case shift popular support in unpredictable directions.
Editor's note:
Camelia Entekhabi-Fard is a journalist who specializes in Afghan and Iranian affairs.
