Friday Prayer Leader Says Protesters Should Be Hanged

Tehran’s hard-line provisional Friday Prayer leader, Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, has explicitly threatened protesters in Iran with the death penalty.

On February 2, Khatami said that according to Shia religious rules, the just sentence for those who “pour into the street” and “oppose the ruler” is the death penalty. He described those who rise against the establishment as “baghi,” an Arabic word that literally means tyrant or aggressor.

Khatami was referring to the recent protests against tyranny, poverty, and unemployment that broke out on December 28 in Iran’s holiest Shi’ite city, Mashhad, and soon spread across the country.

The protesters, rallying against economic hardship, chanted slogans against Supreme Leader ayatollah Ali Khamenei, calling for the downfall of the theocratic regime.

Lambasting authorities for releasing an unknown number of protesters detained nationwide, Khatami said, “The honorable authority says in an interview that all protesters have been freed. This is pampering them when they should be punished.”

Khatami, who is renowned for his raging speeches, continued, “Those who had been hoodwinked and deceived should be awakened, punished, and commit themselves in writing to refrain from further devilry and being pawns at the hands of rioters.”

RadioLiberty

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