Lawyer of Mohammad Ali Taheri: I have heard about the cancellation of his death sentence

Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabai, the lawyer of Mohammad Ali Taheri, announced the cancellation of his death sentence, stating that it was annulled due to "non-compliance with the laws." Mr. Alizadeh emphasized that he has not yet been officially notified of the cancellation and has only heard about it. According to ILNA news agency, Mr. Alizadeh added that if the cancellation is confirmed, the case will be sent for re-examination to an equivalent branch. If the cancellation of Mohammad Ali Taheri's death sentence is confirmed, it will be the second time that the Supreme Court has annulled his death sentence. Mr. Taheri established an institute called "Irfan Halqa" in 2001, engaging in activities related to "Iranian complementary medicine, energy healing, and Scientology." He was arrested in 2011, and the initial sentence issued against him was also "death." However, his death sentence was annulled by the Supreme Court last year, and the case was referred back to the Revolutionary Court for re-examination. Nevertheless, according to the case lawyer, the Revolutionary Court, in its second examination, again cited the same legal provisions that the Supreme Court had previously annulled. Last year, the Supreme Court stated that Mr. Taheri's actions occurred before 2010, and Article 286 of the Islamic Penal Code was enacted in 2013, indicating that these actions do not fall under Article 286, thus annulling the sentence. Based on Article 286 of the Islamic Penal Code, enacted in 2013, individuals who "widely commit crimes against the physical integrity of individuals, crimes against internal or external security of the country, spreading falsehoods, disrupting the economic system of the country, arson and destruction, distributing toxic and dangerous materials, or establishing centers of corruption and prostitution or assisting in them in a way that causes severe disruption to public order, insecurity, or significant damage to the physical integrity of individuals or public and private property, or causes the widespread dissemination of corruption or prostitution" are considered corrupt on earth and sentenced to death. It is unclear under which part of this article Mr. Taheri was sentenced to death. Mr. Taheri's lawyer had previously stated that there is no evidence that his client's actions have caused widespread corruption, and according to the definition of Article 286, "corruption on earth," Mr. Taheri cannot be subject to a law that was enacted after his actions. The issuance of a death sentence for Mohammad Ali Taheri has faced significant protests. For instance, last October, 18 political and human rights activists condemned the death sentence for Mohammad Ali Taheri, the founder of Irfan Halqa, in a statement, calling for the annulment of this sentence and his "immediate and unconditional" release. The authors of this statement described Mohammad Ali Taheri's case as "one of the most unjust judicial and ideological cases in Iran" and deemed the Revolutionary Court's reasoning for issuing the death sentence as "flawed." Amnesty International also issued a statement last July, urging Iranian authorities to release this political prisoner unconditionally. More than three thousand of Mohammad Ali Taheri's students, the founder of "Irfan Halqa," also published an open letter last August protesting the "pressure on the judges" of his case by "security institutions." In this context, Mohammad Ali Taheri's lawyer announced the reissuance of the death sentence against him.