Will the Death Sentence of Hashem Aghajari Be Revoked?

A news report from Iran indicates that the Supreme Court has decided to revoke the death sentence of Hashem Aghajari, an Iranian dissident. According to the Iranian Student News Agency, the Supreme Court will announce its decision on this matter soon. One of the deputy heads of the Iranian judiciary, considered a hardline institution, stated last week that the Supreme Court has begun reviewing the revocation of Aghajari's death sentence for insulting the sanctities of Islam. The official Iranian news agency quoted the deputy head of the judiciary as saying that after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, declared that the facts related to Aghajari's case lacked accusations of heresy, the Supreme Court initiated actions to revoke the death sentence. Hashem Aghajari was sentenced to death in November 2002 after publicly questioning the role of hardline clerics in Iran. The issuance of the death sentence led to protests in Tehran and other cities in Iran, which are usually rare. Subsequently, Ayatollah Khamenei ordered the judiciary to reconsider the sentence against Aghajari. This order resulted in the Supreme Court revoking the sentence in 2003. Last month, the initial court judge reaffirmed Aghajari's death sentence, prompting the Supreme Court to intervene again.