TEHRAN: A group of 248 Iranian dissidents issued a scathing declaration on Sunday stressing the right of the people to criticise the leadership and describing the holding of absolute power as âheresyâ.
| That kinda gnaws at the base of theocracy, doesn't it? |
âThe people have the right to supervise the action of their rulers and to advise and criticise them, as well as to dismiss or oust them if they are not satisfied with them,â said the declaration, which was signed by reformists, liberals, journalists, intellectuals and several clerics. âSitting or making individuals sit in the position of divine and absolute power is a clear heresy towards God and a clear affront to human dignity,â said the strong-worded declaration received by AFP.
| They're only saying that because it's true... |
The statement came after five consecutive nights of bitter student-led anti-regime protests in Tehran that have been marked by vitriolic slogans targeting Iranâs Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who wields absolute power over the Islamic republic.
| Kinda Louis XIV, only without the wardrobe... |
Among the signatories to the letter was Hashem Aghajari, a pro-reform dissident who was sentenced to death last year on charges of blasphemy after he questioned the right to rule of clerics. He is currently awaiting a revision of his sentence. Other signatories were close allies of embattled President Mohammad Khatami, student activists, journalists, prominent academics and members of the banned-but-tolerated Iran Freedom Movement (IFM). |