Iran academic Aghajari sentenced 5-year imprisonment

[democratic]

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-07/21/content_1624096.htm

BEIJING, July 21 (Xinhuanet) -- Iran's dissident academic Hashem Aghajari was sentenced to five years behind bar by hardline judiciary on Tuesday for saying Muslims should not blindly follow their clerical leaders like "monkeys," his lawyer said.

According to Wednesday's China Daily, the sentence marked a major climb down by the judiciary which originally condemned Aghajari to death for blasphemy after making the speech in 2002.

His speech "Are people monkeys to emulate someone else," touched a raw nerve at the heart of clerical rule in Iran by questioning the Shi'ite Muslim doctrine in which ordinary believers are obliged to emulate a senior cleric qualified to interpret the Koran..

The death sentence, issued by a provincial court in western Iran, sparked some of the largest student protests for years and fueled international concern about restrictions on free speech in the Islamic state.

Although with such a climb down sentence, Aghajari's wife is not satisfied. She preferred acquitment.

Considering Aghajari has been in prison for two years, the sentence was only for one more year in jail. Enditem