Court Overturns Liberal Cleric’s Death Sentence
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An appeals court has overturned a death sentence handed down last year against liberal dissident cleric Hassan Eshkevari.
Eshkevari, 51, was tried behind closed doors by the secretive Special Clergy Court on charges of “apostasy, being at war with God and being corrupt on earth.”
President Mohammad Khatami, a moderate cleric, his pro-reform allies and international rights groups had denounced the charges.
Eshkevari, who advocates pluralism and tolerance, angered hard-liners by speaking out against their harsh rule at a conference in Germany last year.
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