The head of Iran’s hardliner Judiciary issued a new directive June 6 advocating a separate treatment for “political crimes” by those who criticize the country’s clerical rulers from “security crimes" by those who question the very essence of the regime. The Islamic Republic has Article 2 of the Political Crimes Act, which includes insulting the heads of three branches of power, as well as offenses related to elections and "spreading false news" counted as "political crime". But, almost all dissidents are usually accused of security crimes, without a public trial by a jury as inscribed in the constitution. In the new directive, the mid-ranking cleric Ebrahim Raeesi (Raisi) has stressed the need to investigate people accused of "insulting" sanctities, the Islamic Republic Supreme Leader, and senior Shiite clerics for political crimes as part of “security crimes”. This would still keep the door open for charging dissidents who criticiz...
Striving for a World without Capital Punishment