Tuesday
Aug042009
Text: Ayatollah Montazeri's Response to the Tehran Trials
Tuesday, August 4, 2009 at 18:29
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Enduring America has received a translation of Ayatollah Montazeri's response to the recent mass trials. Montazeri remains one of the most senior religious figures in Iran and has been a consistent critic of the Islamic Republic's policies since the late 1980s.
"It is with great surprise and sorrow that our dear and long-suffering people are incredulously witnessing the anti-religious and illegal broadcasting of interviews with their beloved captives held in prison; beloved captives that have been held for 40 days and some of whom have also been killed. I have reminded all in previous messages: These coerced confessions, that unfortunately have become the norm in the Islamic Republic, have been extracted in illegal prisons and under abnormal conditions, by deceiving the prisoners and severing their connections to the outside world and by applying a myriad of psychological and physical pressures upon them.
These confessions absolutely lack any legal or religious sanction and are equivalent to any mortal sin and from the same standpoint [the extraction of these confessions] should be considered to be a major felony and crime. Therefore those who order these confessions to be taken and those that extract them must be tried in court, consequently no reputable court should not and must not use these confession to convict or try or sentence anyone.....[shia tradition] has therefore led all Islamic jurist to state that coerced confessions extracted by force and threats under abnormal conditions are inadmissible......
In addition, sullying the reputations of individuals that have had a great effect both in the development of Islamic revolution and in setting up the establishment, using unsubstantiated and dastardly pretexts and allegations is another mortal sin; a sin that will have the effect of being more detrimental to the people who are responsible for the propagation of these allegations [rather than the ones accused]: the people will ask themselves what kind of an establishment accuses it's own high level officials of high treason, officials that served previous governments and parliaments and played a crucial role in setting up the establishment themselves.
I [as a devout muslim] have a ritual and religious duty to advise you to good works and admonish you for your transgressions, in the is regard I am reiterating my previous reminder to those who are in charge of the affairs of society: I request that you do something that the disregarded rights of the people regarding this election are restored to them and the lost confidence of the people in the system is regained and that you try to satisfy the populace. What you have done instead-namely, suppressing people and detaining hundreds of protesters; imprisoning prominent individuals who have spent years serving the establishment in key roles; forcing these individuals to make public statements and confessions according to the pleasure of the rulers, statements that are totally contradictory with the opinions and thoughts of the prisoners; forcing these individuals to confess to sins, crimes and treason that has nothing to do with them-is something that no reasonable person would believe or accept."
Receive our latest updates by email or RSS SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FEED
Buy Us A Cup of Coffee? Help Enduring America Expand Its Coverage and Analysis
Enduring America has received a translation of Ayatollah Montazeri's response to the recent mass trials. Montazeri remains one of the most senior religious figures in Iran and has been a consistent critic of the Islamic Republic's policies since the late 1980s."It is with great surprise and sorrow that our dear and long-suffering people are incredulously witnessing the anti-religious and illegal broadcasting of interviews with their beloved captives held in prison; beloved captives that have been held for 40 days and some of whom have also been killed. I have reminded all in previous messages: These coerced confessions, that unfortunately have become the norm in the Islamic Republic, have been extracted in illegal prisons and under abnormal conditions, by deceiving the prisoners and severing their connections to the outside world and by applying a myriad of psychological and physical pressures upon them.
These confessions absolutely lack any legal or religious sanction and are equivalent to any mortal sin and from the same standpoint [the extraction of these confessions] should be considered to be a major felony and crime. Therefore those who order these confessions to be taken and those that extract them must be tried in court, consequently no reputable court should not and must not use these confession to convict or try or sentence anyone.....[shia tradition] has therefore led all Islamic jurist to state that coerced confessions extracted by force and threats under abnormal conditions are inadmissible......
In addition, sullying the reputations of individuals that have had a great effect both in the development of Islamic revolution and in setting up the establishment, using unsubstantiated and dastardly pretexts and allegations is another mortal sin; a sin that will have the effect of being more detrimental to the people who are responsible for the propagation of these allegations [rather than the ones accused]: the people will ask themselves what kind of an establishment accuses it's own high level officials of high treason, officials that served previous governments and parliaments and played a crucial role in setting up the establishment themselves.
I [as a devout muslim] have a ritual and religious duty to advise you to good works and admonish you for your transgressions, in the is regard I am reiterating my previous reminder to those who are in charge of the affairs of society: I request that you do something that the disregarded rights of the people regarding this election are restored to them and the lost confidence of the people in the system is regained and that you try to satisfy the populace. What you have done instead-namely, suppressing people and detaining hundreds of protesters; imprisoning prominent individuals who have spent years serving the establishment in key roles; forcing these individuals to make public statements and confessions according to the pleasure of the rulers, statements that are totally contradictory with the opinions and thoughts of the prisoners; forcing these individuals to confess to sins, crimes and treason that has nothing to do with them-is something that no reasonable person would believe or accept."
Reader Comments (1)
[...] über die Schauprozesse 4. August 2009 — Thomas v. der Osten-Sacken Enduringamerica hat das jüngste Statement von Montazeri gegen die Schuprozesse in englischer Übersetzung. Veröffentlicht in News, Vor Ort. Kommentar [...]