Details of the Violation of Mohammad Ali Taheri's Death Sentence

Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabai, the lawyer of Mohammad Ali Taheri, the founder of the Circle of Gnosis in Iran, spoke with Radio Farda about the annulment of his client's death sentence by the Supreme Court and addressed his new case: In Tehran, Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabai stated: "We argued that the sentence was issued based on Article 286 of the Islamic Penal Code, which prescribes the death penalty for widespread corruption, and cited the fatwa of some clerics. In the petition we submitted to the Supreme Court, we argued that Article 286 was enacted in 2013 and the actions that Mr. Taheri has taken, which the court interprets as widespread corruption, occurred in the 2000s. Therefore, it cannot fall under Article 286. The court does not have the right to cite the fatwa of clerics. The Supreme Court annulled the sentence based on these two arguments and informed the court that if he committed any corruption after the enactment of this law, they should announce it, and if he committed another act that is punishable by death before the enactment of this law, they should announce that as well." Mr. Tabatabai, does this annulment affect the entire case? "This sentence has been completely annulled, and there is no longer a death sentence. However, since part of the case has been kept open, the Supreme Court has said that regarding those parts, the court should complete its investigations and provide its opinion, and the case will be returned to the Supreme Court." Are there any issues in the open parts that could revive this sentence? "No, absolutely not. The ruling claims that he deceived people through alternative medicine and caused physical and financial harm to them. The Supreme Court said that you should investigate those who were harmed by his treatments and send them to forensic medicine, and if forensic medicine confirms the harm and they complain, we will address the matter. Or, for example, it has been claimed that he was a follower of one of the leftist groups at the beginning of the revolution. The Supreme Court said, well, investigate how much he was affiliated with that leftist group and whether he committed a crime or not. This issue is not serious." Could these collectively increase his sentence? "Yes, it is possible. They may issue a new prison sentence based on these matters, but any ruling they issue is not final, and if it is under ten years, it can be appealed in the appellate court, and if it is over ten years, it can be appealed in the Supreme Court." How many years has he spent in prison, and how much of that was from the initial sentence? "He had a five-year sentence, which will be completed in a month, and a new ruling will be issued. The court must issue a ruling commensurate with the charges against him, and we hope that the ruling will not be detention but bail, and he will be released from prison and we will wait for the proceedings to take place."