Hamedan, Nov 11, IRNA -- A court in this western Iranian city, which sentenced outspoken university professor Hashem Aghajari to death last week, has hit back at critics of the verdict, including Parliament Speaker Mehdi Karroubi accusing him of 'using different yardsticks to evaluate one event'.

In a statement, a copy of which was made available to IRNA on Monday, the Hamedan Justice Department reiterated its 'blasphemy' indictment against Aghajari and rejected what it described as 'harsh, unprincipled, political and factional stances' toward the verdict.

The court sentenced Aghajari on Wednesday to death for allegedly blaspheming Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), his lawyer Saleh Nikbakht told IRNA. It further gave him an eight-year prison sentence in desert cities and 74 lashes as well as banned him from teaching for 10 years, he added.

Karroubi here Sunday strongly criticized the sentence as he invited political parties to maintain restraint and pledged that the issue would be resolved soon.

"I, as a cleric and the spokesman of religious dignitaries whom I have contacted, announce my hatred and disgust at this shameful verdict," Karroubi told an open session of the parliament.

"It is surprising that a person, who sits at the helm of the legislative power, has adopted a policy of evaluating one event with different yardstick," the department said in a part of the statement.

"We warn that denying basics of the (Islamic) religion, which according to a famous decree of the Islamic Republic's founder - Imam Khomeini - amounts to blasphemy ... has only the same interpretation if committed by superficial believers," it added.

The Justice Department stressed that the Judiciary is resolute in its responsibility 'to discover offenses and deal with offenders in order to implement the codes of the Islamic Sharia'.

On Sunday, 181 Iranian MPs appealed to Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Seyed Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi to overturn the the death sentence against Aghajari and secure his release from jail.

Their move came as two Hamedan MPs handed in their resignations to Karroubi in protest against the court verdict, but retracted them later on the parliament speaker's insistence.

"There has been no precedent in the country's history in which such a verdict is issued simply because of a speech which contains no blasphemy," Hossein Loqmanian, an MP from Hamedan, and Mohammad-Reza Ali-Hosseini, representing Nahavand, said in a letter giving their reasons for the resignation.

On Monday, some 1,000 students of a Tehran university gathered at the campus to protest the death sentence against Aghajari. They said they also wanted to voice their indignation over the 'suppression of freedom of speech'.

Aghajari was summoned to court in August this year after he called for religious restructuring in the Shia-dominated Iran.

Speaking at a function to commemorate a prominent Iranian intellectual, late Ali Shariati in Hamedan, Aghajari had criticized the Islamic principle of emulation (Taqlid) from religious leaders.

Students stage rally to protest Aghajari's death sentence

Tehran, Nov 11, IRNA -- Some 1,000 students from Tehran's Tarbiat Modarres University Monday staged a rally on the faculty's campus in protest to the recent death sentence on academic Hashem Aghajari.

The Students' Islamic Association of the faculty in a statement announced that the purpose of the rally was to protest the suppression of freedom of speech and the intellectuals, as well as the court ruling on Aghajari.

Aghajari, who is a lecturer of history at the faculty, was summoned to court in August this year after he called for religious restructuring in the Shia-dominated Iran.

Speaking at a function to commemorate a prominent Iranian intellectual, late Ali Shariati in Hamedan, he had challenged the theory of emulation in Shi'ism underscoring the need for explanations from the religious leaders for the decisions they make on religious matters binding for their followers.

A court in the western Iranian city of Hamedan last week sentenced the university professor to death for allegedly blaspheming Prophet Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Him).

The death sentence has so far drawn the strong criticism at home amid concerns that Aghajari's sentence could harm the image of the Islamic Republic, as well as Shi'ism at the international level.

Majlis Speaker Mehdi Karroubi Sunday strongly criticized the recent death sentence against academician and writer Hashem Aghajari, and voiced 'hatred and disgust' at the verdict.

Also, Majlis deputies from Hamedan Hossein Loqmanian and Mohammad-Reza Ali-Hosseini Sunday resigned in protest to the sentence, but later in the day withdrew their resignation after Karroubi's request to do so.

MPs support Speaker for opposing sentence against Aghajari

In a statement, some 181 MPs appealed to the Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Seyed Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi to immediately rescind the sentence and secure the release of the 'revolutionary war disabled' and university professor.

"We, representatives of Islamic Consultative Assembly, voice our strong support for statements made by the honorable Speaker of the Majlis in opposing the sentence against Dr. Hashem Aghajari; and like him, we announce our resentment of the sinister verdict," said the statement, read out at the end of the open session of Majlis on Sunday.

Karroubi had told the open session of the Majlis on Sunday, "I, as a cleric and the spokesman of religious dignitaries with whom I have contacted, announce my hatred and disgust at this 'shameful verdict'."

He further called on the political parties to keep calm regarding the verdict against Aghajari, voicing assurances that the issue is already solved and would end soon.

The Majlis speaker said Aghajari's death sentence affected the whole system and the Islamic Revolution, and hoped such cases would never be repeated in the future.

Karroubi said the Judiciary must consider the consequences of Aghajari's verdict, warning that it could harm the image of the country and Shi'ism.

Six MPs, who had served jail terms during former monarchical regime, in a letter to Aghajari's family opposed the 'unfair' death sentence issued against the professor.

The letter highlighted years of Aghajari's struggles and campaigns during Shah's reign and said the signatories would spare no efforts to secure his release.

Mohammad-Reza Ali-Hosseini, MP from Nahavand (Hamedan province), Mohammad Piran, MP from Razan (Hamedan province), Mohammad-Bagher Baqerinejad, MP from Kazeroon (Fars province), Abolghassem Sarhaddizadeh, MP from Tehran, Mahmoud Akhavan Bazardeh, MP from Langarud (Gilan province) and Mir-Mahmoud Yeganali, MP from Orumieh (West Azarbaijan province) signed and sealed the letter.

In a related move, two MPs from the western province of Hamedan, where a court early this week sentenced Aghajari to death, resigned in protest to the verdict.

Hossein Loqmanian, an MP from Hamedan, whose imprisonment this year led to an impasse between the Parliament and the Judiciary, and Mohammad-Reza Ali-Hosseini, representing Nahavand, formally submitted their resignation to the Parliament's Presiding Board here Sunday.

Meanwhile, Head of the Judicial Commission at Majlis Hojatoleslam Nasser Qavami, called the sentence against Aghajari as 'deadliest blow' to Shiite clerics.

Qavami in an interview with IRNA, Qavami said that expressing views and opinions is not a crime.

"I am confident that the Supreme Court would not approve of the verdict," he said.

Aghajari was summoned to court in August this year after he called for religious restructuring in the Shia-dominated Iran.

Speaking at a function to commemorate a prominent Iranian intellectual, late Ali Shariati in Hamedan, he had challenged the theory of emulation in Shi'ism underscoring the need for explanations from the religious leaders for the decisions they make on religious matters binding for their followers.

A court in the western Iranian city of Hamedan last week sentenced the university professor to death for allegedly blaspheming Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him).