Iranian MPs urge courts to lift death sentence

Nearly two-thirds of Iran's parliament called on the judiciary yesterday to lift a death sentence handed down this week to a reformist scholar convicted of insulting Islam.

The Speaker, Mehdi Karroubi, said the sentence against Hashem Aghajari, a university professor, was a "disgusting" verdict. Other lawmakers said it portrayed Iran as dictatorial and unconcerned with human rights and freedoms.

A total of 181 members of the 290-seat parliament signed a letter urging the sentence to be lifted.

Aghajari was convicted of insulting the prophet Mohammed and questioning the hardline clerics' interpretation of Islam in a speech made in June in the western city of Hamedan. He said each generation should be able to interpret the faith in its own way.

Aghajari's party, the Islamic Revolution Mujahedin Organisation, supports President Mohammad Khatami's push for social and political reforms. Yesterday, the parliament approved proposals for a bill backed by the President that would limit the clerics' powers by stopping the judiciary and other unelected institutions from violating the constitution. (AP)