Mohammad Ali Taheri's Death Sentence 'Overturned'

The lawyer of Mohammad Ali Taheri, founder of 'Circle of Gnosis', announced on Sunday, December 20, that his client's death sentence has been 'overturned' by Branch 33 of the Supreme Court and the case has been referred back for 're-examination' to Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court, which issued the initial ruling. According to ISNA news agency, Saeed Khalili stated that the judges of the Supreme Court considered the 'arguments and reasoning' of him and his client regarding the 'invalidity of the ruling' and found the initial court's verdict to have 'significant and acceptable defects.' Mr. Khalili had previously reported on September 14 that he had appealed the death sentence issued by Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, and the case was referred to the Supreme Court. Mohammad Ali Taheri, who engaged in activities related to 'Iranian complementary medicine, spiritual healing, and simentology' by establishing an institute named 'Circle of Gnosis' in 2001, was arrested in 2011. According to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Mr. Taheri was also arrested once before in 2010 and was released after 67 days in solitary confinement. Previously, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and many human rights organizations have protested against the death sentence for Mr. Taheri. Supporters of Mohammad Ali Taheri have also held several protests in recent years, and some of them have been arrested and imprisoned. In July 2014, Mr. Taheri wrote in a letter to Ahmed Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, that 'interrogators and investigators' forced him into 'fabricated confessions' through 'psychological pressure and torture.' He also stated that due to the 'tortures' inflicted on him during detention, he attempted suicide four times and went on hunger strike twice. In recent months, reports about Mr. Taheri's hunger strike have also been published. Fars News Agency had previously reported that 'three clerics issued a fatwa declaring Taheri's apostasy in response to inquiries made by the judiciary.' Following that, some websites, including 'Mashregh News', named the three clerics as Naser Makarem Shirazi, Lotfollah Safi Golpaygani, and Mohammad Ali Alavi Gorgani, and published images of their fatwas. However, the Iranian Labor News Agency, ILNA, quoted Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi on September 1 as saying that 'such a matter (the ruling of apostasy) is not true, but he has many deviations, and attending his classes is not permissible.' Ayatollah Alavi Gorgani also wrote in response to a question that 'no definitive fatwa' regarding Mr. Taheri's 'apostasy' has been issued.