The complete text of this letter is as follows:
Take action to ban the policy of execution by hanging of the accused, especially political activists
In the name of God
Esteemed leader of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Hashemi Shahrudi
With salutations
We wish to respectfully bring your attention to the increasing occurrence of execution-by-hanging verdicts in courts across the country in the last few months and that, unfortunately, at times the regulations set by your grace have also been ignored.
In some cases, as in the case of the late Yaghoub Mehrnahad, considerable ambiguities do exist. These uncertainties merit increased control and supervision over the issuance and implementation of serious sentences; an issue which becomes critical when the verdict is death-by-hanging.
We are reminded that the persistence of such aggressive and inhuman policies and denial of the right to life to citizens will not only have irreversible negative effects and seriously damage the public’s conscience and society’s religious sentiment and bring about the reproduction of violence in society, but it will also threaten national unity and social cohesion to the point of possible collapse.
Your eminence, Ayatollah Shahrud,
In addition to applying the death-by-hanging sentence to individuals who, at the time of their crime, were children, this punishment is being applied to regular prisoners whose crimes did not deserve such a severe verdict, a growing number of which are political activists who are now awaiting execution-by-hanging. Some of these individuals are named below:
- Farzad Kamangar
- Farhad Vakili
- Ali Heidarian
- Arsalan Oliayi
- Anvar Hosseinpanahi
- Habibollah Latifi
