سياوش اردلان، مصاحبه با محمدحسين جعفريان و احمد قابل (تهران)، احمد احرار (پاريس)
Summary of Today's BroadcastRFE/RL Persian ServiceFriday, November 08, 2002 - Reactions to Aghajari's death sentence - Reactions to the US relations pollsters' arrests - "Registering" Iranian nationals at US points of entry - Espionage from a legal point of view Reactions to Aghajari's Death Sentence * Tehran-based conservative journalist Mohammad Hossein Jafarian tells RFE/RL that the Hamedan court judge acted according to his religious duty by issuing a death sentence against professor Hashem Aghajari. He was found guilty of apostasy for criticizing clerical rule and questioning the Shiite principle of emulating a religious leader. Jafarian adds that an appeals court might overturn the sentence based on national interest considerations. Amir Mohebian, editorial writer of the conservative Tehran daily Resalat, asked the Supreme Leader to pardon Aghajari. Qom-based reformist cleric Ahmad Qabel tells RFE/RL that once in a private gathering Aghajari told the Supreme Leader that he supports only the conservatives instead of being a father to all political factions. Qabel was surprised at the death sentence, but Paris-based historian Ahmad Ahrar says that prior to the constitutional revolution it was common in Iran for religious leaders to issue death decrees for apostasy. (Siavash Ardalan) * Marie-Christian Lilkoff, spokesperson of the Canadian foreign ministry, said her government will discuss Aghajari's death sentence in talks with Iranian officials; the New York Times called it the harshest sentence against a reformist; the Financial Times said the sentence signals a toughening of the conservative clergy's crackdown on reformists. FT also reported that students at the Tehran teachers college, where Aghajari worked, have threatened to strike in protest. (Golnaz Esfandiari) * The French Socialist party issued a statement condemning Aghajari's death sentence. (Jean Khakzad, Paris) * If in the past a religious leader's decree of apostasy against someone would have banished him from the society of believers, today it makes him famous around the world and threatens the legitimacy of a regime that resorts to such measures in order to stay in power. (Mehdi Khalaji) Reactions to Pollsters' Arrests * Tehran MP Ali Akbar Mussavi Khoini-ha, head of the Majles prisons committee, said the Majles has received worrying reports that the jailed heads of public opinion polling agencies are being pressured to denounce themselves on camera. Behruz Geranpayeh, Mohsen Gudarzi, Abbas Abdi and Hossein Ghazian, heads of two state owned polling agencies, were arrested and charged with espionage, among other things, after the publication of polls that showed 74 percent of Iranians favor relations with the US. Khoini-ha said Geranpayeh is being forced to make on-camera confessions. Shiraz MP Jalil Sazegarnezhad called the pollsters' arrest illegal and called for their immediate release. Hasan Zarezadeh, spokesman of the committee to defend political prisoners, tells RFE/RL that the conditions of jails has improved, but not as a result of the efforts of one faction or another. He said the Majles efforts on behalf of political prisoners is ineffective since they lack clarity in their statements. (Fereydoun Zarnegar) * Robert Worcester, Chairman of Britain's MORI polling agency, tells RFE/RL that MORI has done public opinion surveys for more than 50 foreign governments on the condition that the polls accurately reflect the opinions measured. (Shahran Tabari, London) Fingerprinting Iranians at US Borders * The US government said Iranians are routinely photographed and fingerprinted when they enter the US. Rutgers University professor Houshang Amir-Ahmadi says the practice was in effect even before September 11 and is due to the anti-US stance of the Iranian government. (Fereydoun Zarnegar) Expat Film Festival in Paris * Javad Dadsetan, who organized an expat theater festival in Paris last year, tells RFE/RL that his new film festival follows the example of a similar festival held in Sweden by Iranian exiles. (Jean Khakzad, Paris) Civil Society and Human Rights: Espionage * Lawyer and human rights activist Mehrangiz Kar discusses the legal issues of the espionage charge lodged against the pollsters. ARTS AND IDEAS Daily Internet Report * More than 2 million have access to the Internet in Iran. That figure would double by next year, with more schools and government offices going online. Government expects the IT industry to produce 800,000 jobs by 2007. Also, in an interview with the daily Hamshahri the three founders of www.persianblog.com reveal their names, eight months after the service went online. (Behnam Nateghi, New York) Daily medical advice (Dr. Mansur Moslehi, Los Angeles) Daily Book Review * RFE/RL's Tehran-based book critic Karman Fani reviews "Hafiz Controversial Lines" by Ebrahim Qeysari, from Tus publishers. Daily Science Show * A US genetic company offers a $2800 test which will tell women's genetic predisposition to breast cancer. (Fatemeh Aman, Washington) Song (Mahmud Khoshnam) Shadi (Afshin Gorgin) WORLD * UN Security Council approves the US-proposed resolution on Iraq. (Homayoun Majd, Washington) * Arab countries welcome the resolution on Iraq. (Farideh Rahbar, Cairo) * More than 35,000 hold anti- globalization rally in Florence. (Ahmad Ra'fat, Rome) * Interpol head says bin Laden is alive. (Jean Khakzad, Paris) * A Bahrain royal family member calls for the freedom of his son who is detained in Guantanamo. (Farideh Rahbar, Cairo) * Chinese communist party congress thanks Zhian Zemin for his leadership. (Jean Khakzad, Paris) * Review of European press on US mid-term elections. (Fariba Mavedat, London) * President Bush tells Muslims that the war on terrorism does not target Islam. (Homayoun Majd, Washington) * Qatari Emir appoints his sister as family health minister. (Jamshid Chalangi, Cairo) * Founder of Der Speigel dies. (Shahram Mirian, Cologne)
محمد حسين جعفريان، از تحليلگران نزديك به جناح محافظه كار، در مصاحبه با راديو آزادي مي گويد: قاضي دادگاه صادر كننده حكم اعدام براي هاشم آغاجري، عضو شوراي مركزي سازمان مجاهدين انقلاب اسلامي، به وظيفه شرعي خود عمل كرد، اما ممكن است در تجديدنظر تشخيص داده شود كه اين حكم از نظر عرفي آسيب جدي به نظام مي رساند. دكتر هاشم آغاجري، استاد دانشگاه تربيت معلم، تيرماه گذشته، پس از آن به زندان افتاد كه طي يك سخنراني درهمدان، از حكومت روحانيت شيعه انتقاد كرد و اصل شيعه تقليد از يك مرجع روحاني را زير سئوال برد. امير محبيان، ستون نويس روزنامه رسالت و يك نظريه پردار جناح محافظه كار، اميدواري ابراز كرد كه هاشم آغاجري توسط رهبر جمهوري اسلامي عفو شود. حجت الاسلام احمد قابل، از روحانيون طرفدار اصلاحات، در مصاحبه با راديو آزادي، مي گويد: آقاي آغاجري يك بار در جلسه خصوصي ديدار با رهبر جمهوري اسلامي، وي را به حمايت از يك جناح خاص متهم كرد. احمد قابل مي افزايد: با توجه به اينكه لايحه دفاعي آقاي آغاجري مستدل بود انتظار چنين حكمي را نداشتم. احمد احرار، كارشناس تاريخ، ساكن پاريس، در مصاحبه با راديو آزادي مي گويد: صدور حكم قتل به سبب ارتداد قبل ار مشروطيت در ايران معمول بود و فتوا به محض صدور از بالاي منبر توسط يك روحاني، به دست پيروان او به مورد اجرا گذاشته مي شد.
Summary of Today's BroadcastRFE/RL Persian ServiceFriday, November 08, 2002 - Reactions to Aghajari's death sentence - Reactions to the US relations pollsters' arrests - "Registering" Iranian nationals at US points of entry - Espionage from a legal point of view Reactions to Aghajari's Death Sentence * Tehran-based conservative journalist Mohammad Hossein Jafarian tells RFE/RL that the Hamedan court judge acted according to his religious duty by issuing a death sentence against professor Hashem Aghajari. He was found guilty of apostasy for criticizing clerical rule and questioning the Shiite principle of emulating a religious leader. Jafarian adds that an appeals court might overturn the sentence based on national interest considerations. Amir Mohebian, editorial writer of the conservative Tehran daily Resalat, asked the Supreme Leader to pardon Aghajari. Qom-based reformist cleric Ahmad Qabel tells RFE/RL that once in a private gathering Aghajari told the Supreme Leader that he supports only the conservatives instead of being a father to all political factions. Qabel was surprised at the death sentence, but Paris-based historian Ahmad Ahrar says that prior to the constitutional revolution it was common in Iran for religious leaders to issue death decrees for apostasy. (Siavash Ardalan) * Marie-Christian Lilkoff, spokesperson of the Canadian foreign ministry, said her government will discuss Aghajari's death sentence in talks with Iranian officials; the New York Times called it the harshest sentence against a reformist; the Financial Times said the sentence signals a toughening of the conservative clergy's crackdown on reformists. FT also reported that students at the Tehran teachers college, where Aghajari worked, have threatened to strike in protest. (Golnaz Esfandiari) * The French Socialist party issued a statement condemning Aghajari's death sentence. (Jean Khakzad, Paris) * If in the past a religious leader's decree of apostasy against someone would have banished him from the society of believers, today it makes him famous around the world and threatens the legitimacy of a regime that resorts to such measures in order to stay in power. (Mehdi Khalaji) Reactions to Pollsters' Arrests * Tehran MP Ali Akbar Mussavi Khoini-ha, head of the Majles prisons committee, said the Majles has received worrying reports that the jailed heads of public opinion polling agencies are being pressured to denounce themselves on camera. Behruz Geranpayeh, Mohsen Gudarzi, Abbas Abdi and Hossein Ghazian, heads of two state owned polling agencies, were arrested and charged with espionage, among other things, after the publication of polls that showed 74 percent of Iranians favor relations with the US. Khoini-ha said Geranpayeh is being forced to make on-camera confessions. Shiraz MP Jalil Sazegarnezhad called the pollsters' arrest illegal and called for their immediate release. Hasan Zarezadeh, spokesman of the committee to defend political prisoners, tells RFE/RL that the conditions of jails has improved, but not as a result of the efforts of one faction or another. He said the Majles efforts on behalf of political prisoners is ineffective since they lack clarity in their statements. (Fereydoun Zarnegar) * Robert Worcester, Chairman of Britain's MORI polling agency, tells RFE/RL that MORI has done public opinion surveys for more than 50 foreign governments on the condition that the polls accurately reflect the opinions measured. (Shahran Tabari, London) Fingerprinting Iranians at US Borders * The US government said Iranians are routinely photographed and fingerprinted when they enter the US. Rutgers University professor Houshang Amir-Ahmadi says the practice was in effect even before September 11 and is due to the anti-US stance of the Iranian government. (Fereydoun Zarnegar) Expat Film Festival in Paris * Javad Dadsetan, who organized an expat theater festival in Paris last year, tells RFE/RL that his new film festival follows the example of a similar festival held in Sweden by Iranian exiles. (Jean Khakzad, Paris) Civil Society and Human Rights: Espionage * Lawyer and human rights activist Mehrangiz Kar discusses the legal issues of the espionage charge lodged against the pollsters. ARTS AND IDEAS Daily Internet Report * More than 2 million have access to the Internet in Iran. That figure would double by next year, with more schools and government offices going online. Government expects the IT industry to produce 800,000 jobs by 2007. Also, in an interview with the daily Hamshahri the three founders of www.persianblog.com reveal their names, eight months after the service went online. (Behnam Nateghi, New York) Daily medical advice (Dr. Mansur Moslehi, Los Angeles) Daily Book Review * RFE/RL's Tehran-based book critic Karman Fani reviews "Hafiz Controversial Lines" by Ebrahim Qeysari, from Tus publishers. Daily Science Show * A US genetic company offers a $2800 test which will tell women's genetic predisposition to breast cancer. (Fatemeh Aman, Washington) Song (Mahmud Khoshnam) Shadi (Afshin Gorgin) WORLD * UN Security Council approves the US-proposed resolution on Iraq. (Homayoun Majd, Washington) * Arab countries welcome the resolution on Iraq. (Farideh Rahbar, Cairo) * More than 35,000 hold anti- globalization rally in Florence. (Ahmad Ra'fat, Rome) * Interpol head says bin Laden is alive. (Jean Khakzad, Paris) * A Bahrain royal family member calls for the freedom of his son who is detained in Guantanamo. (Farideh Rahbar, Cairo) * Chinese communist party congress thanks Zhian Zemin for his leadership. (Jean Khakzad, Paris) * Review of European press on US mid-term elections. (Fariba Mavedat, London) * President Bush tells Muslims that the war on terrorism does not target Islam. (Homayoun Majd, Washington) * Qatari Emir appoints his sister as family health minister. (Jamshid Chalangi, Cairo) * Founder of Der Speigel dies. (Shahram Mirian, Cologne)
محمد حسين جعفريان، از تحليلگران نزديك به جناح محافظه كار، در مصاحبه با راديو آزادي مي گويد: قاضي دادگاه صادر كننده حكم اعدام براي هاشم آغاجري، عضو شوراي مركزي سازمان مجاهدين انقلاب اسلامي، به وظيفه شرعي خود عمل كرد، اما ممكن است در تجديدنظر تشخيص داده شود كه اين حكم از نظر عرفي آسيب جدي به نظام مي رساند. دكتر هاشم آغاجري، استاد دانشگاه تربيت معلم، تيرماه گذشته، پس از آن به زندان افتاد كه طي يك سخنراني درهمدان، از حكومت روحانيت شيعه انتقاد كرد و اصل شيعه تقليد از يك مرجع روحاني را زير سئوال برد. امير محبيان، ستون نويس روزنامه رسالت و يك نظريه پردار جناح محافظه كار، اميدواري ابراز كرد كه هاشم آغاجري توسط رهبر جمهوري اسلامي عفو شود. حجت الاسلام احمد قابل، از روحانيون طرفدار اصلاحات، در مصاحبه با راديو آزادي، مي گويد: آقاي آغاجري يك بار در جلسه خصوصي ديدار با رهبر جمهوري اسلامي، وي را به حمايت از يك جناح خاص متهم كرد. احمد قابل مي افزايد: با توجه به اينكه لايحه دفاعي آقاي آغاجري مستدل بود انتظار چنين حكمي را نداشتم. احمد احرار، كارشناس تاريخ، ساكن پاريس، در مصاحبه با راديو آزادي مي گويد: صدور حكم قتل به سبب ارتداد قبل ار مشروطيت در ايران معمول بود و فتوا به محض صدور از بالاي منبر توسط يك روحاني، به دست پيروان او به مورد اجرا گذاشته مي شد.
