Continued Student Protests in Tehran: Interview with Hassan Hazrat Zadeh - 2002-11-11

In an interview with Behrooz Abassi, Hassan Hazrat Zadeh, a master's student in law at Allameh University and a former member of the Office for Strengthening Unity, discussed the student protests against the death sentence for Dr. Hashem Aghajari in Iran. While the Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly has called for the cancellation of the death sentence for one of the reformists and university professors, hundreds of students continued their protests for the third day against the issuance of this sentence. The students have vowed to engage in further protest gatherings, stating that the death sentence for Hashem Aghajari, a history professor at Tarbiat Modares University, is a violation of freedom of expression. Hashem Aghajari, 45, has been sentenced to death for insulting sacred beliefs and questioning the role of clergy in Islam. Meanwhile, Mehdi Karroubi, the Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, strongly protested the court ruling from Hamadan against Mr. Aghajari, calling it disgraceful and demanding its cancellation. On Tuesday, the Iranian judiciary stated that the death sentence remains in effect and criticized the parliament for its efforts to annul this ruling.