Tehran Friday Prayer Leader on Group of Imprisoned Protesters: In Our Jurisprudence, Their Sentence is Execution

Ahmad Khatami, the Friday prayer leader of Tehran this week, referred to the recent protests and said: "In our jurisprudence, anyone who takes to the streets against a just Islamic ruler, strikes, kills, and burns is a rebel, and the punishment for a rebel in our jurisprudence is execution, as explicitly stated in the Holy Quran." He added that his statement is based on "some sermons of Nahj al-Balagha and the words of Imam Ali," the first Imam of Shia Islam, and called for a "sacred anger" against those he calls the "leaders of the riots." According to ISNA news agency, Ahmad Khatami criticized the release of some of the recent protesters from prison, stating: "The respected official interviews and says that everyone has been released; this is coddling them while they should be admonished." Khatami further stated regarding the arrested protesters of the recent protests: "Those who were deceived and played should be warned and made to commit that they will not cause mischief again and will not become the background actors of the rioters, rather than being coddled." Over a hundred cities in Iran have witnessed protests against the economic situation and government policies in recent months. In these protests, harsh slogans were directed against the leaders and domestic and regional policies of the Islamic Republic, leading to the arrest of thousands and the confirmed deaths of over 20 individuals. Some officials previously reported the release of a group of detainees, and Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the public prosecutor of Tehran, announced on January 6 that 70 of the recent detainees had been released within the last 48 hours after completing investigations and obtaining guarantees. Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the spokesperson for the judiciary, also stated regarding the arrests during the protests: "If there were arrests during the street riots, it was emphasized that they should not go to prison initially to avoid creating a criminal record; as some individuals may be arrested who are deceived, innocent, and guilty." Now, the Friday prayer leader of Tehran has criticized this trend, stating: "The respected official interviews and says that everyone has been released; this is coddling them while they should be warned and made to understand that they did not do a good thing because any rioter, whether a student, cleric, or non-cleric, whoever riots must face consequences." Ahmad Khatami added: "The point is that if you want to show clemency, do so, but do not coddle them, in a way that makes one feel that some people's only concern is the freedom of the rioters. They came to the streets, were deceived, shouted against the regime, and caused chaos in the city. They must understand that they did wrong, so clemency yes, but accompanied by admonition." Khatami's call for the execution of various individuals in prisons comes at a time when there are no statistics available on the number of imprisoned protesters. Mahmoud Sadeghi, a member of parliament from Tehran, reported the number of detainees to be 3,700, while human rights organizations report "thousands" of prisoners, stating that only a small portion of this number has been released. There have also been reports of "suicides" among detainees in prison. The killing of protesters in prisons in the Islamic Republic has a history, and in 1998, many protesters against the results of that year's presidential election were transferred to Kahrizak detention center in southern Tehran, which reportedly had very poor conditions. According to official reports from the Iranian government, Mohsen Rouh-al-Amini and at least three others named Amir Javadi-Far, Mohammad Kamrani, and Ramin Aghazadeh Qahremani were killed in this detention center. Previously, in 1988, by the order of Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, opponents estimated to be between 2,800 to 5,000 were executed in the prisons of the Islamic Republic. Ali Motahari, the deputy speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, recently commented on this massacre, stating that "if the Imam had that harsh approach regarding the prisoners of the Mojahedin in 1988, he had a jurisprudential argument." He added regarding the executed individuals: "Many of these people may not have even known what was going on. They would ask them if they repent or not? Naturally, with their youthful pride, they would say no, and their sentence would be issued. There may have been excesses, but the main issue was the matter of moharebeh (waging war against God)." In this context, a bill on "the manner of holding gatherings" has been prepared in the parliament of Iran, simultaneous arrests of at least five civil activists in various cities of Iran have occurred, and the National Front of Iran has requested Rouhani to hold a gathering in Tehran. A member of the Judicial Commission of the parliament stated: "We intend to visit more prisons."