Iran's reformists decry cleric's apostasy charges

TEHRAN, Iran (Reuters) -- Iran's reformist political parties have issued a joint communique in support of a dissident cleric who faces the death penalty under charges of apostasy, newspapers said on Wednesday.

The hardline Special Court for Clergy had earlier announced the end of hearings in a case against the outspoken Hassan Yousefi-Eshkevari, jailed on political and religious charges since August.

"The elimination of opposition intellectuals under the pretext of apostasy shows the extent of their despair in dealing with political opponents," the communique, issued by a council of reformist political parties, said.

Hassan Yousefi-Eshkevari, a mid-ranking cleric who called for greater pluralism and tolerance, was arrested on August 5 on his return to Iran after taking part in a conference on the future of Iran's reform movement in Berlin.

All delegates who attended the conference from Iran face charges.

"The mass closure of newspapers, arrests and solitary confinements of religious individuals based solely on their ideas and writings, has now entered the new phase of accusing them of apostasy," the communique said.

Yousefi-Eshkevari could face the death penalty under charges which also include waging war against God, spreading corruption on earth and acting against state security.

The 51-year-old cleric who suffers from diabetes was not allowed to retain a lawyer of his choice during the closed-door trial, relatives and rights groups said. He was represented by a court-appointed lawyer.

Iran's embattled President Mohammad Khatami had earlier voiced his concern in a meeting with a group of parliamentarians. Newspapers on Wednesday quoted him as repeating those worries.

"The power-holder must not condemn his critics as apostates," the reformist daily Hambastegi quoted Khatami as saying.

"A man's ideas will not go away, even if he does," the state-run Iran newspaper quoted him as saying.

Khatami visited the home of former Vice-President Abdollah Nouri, who is serving a five-year prison sentence imposed by the Special Court for Clergy on charges of political and religious dissent, on Wednesday.

Widely seen as a standard bearer of Iran's reforms movement, Nouri is currently on furlough from prison to attend his mother's funeral.

The popular Nouri shocked the establishment during his trial last year by discussing legal limits on the powers of the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the rights of political opponents, and the wisdom of Iran's anti-U.S. stance.

The Special Court for Clergy, controlled by the supreme leader, is independent of the judiciary and has been instrumental in prosecuting reformist clerics in the past.

Reformers say the court is unconstitutional and have compared it with the mediaeval Inquisition.

Human Rights Watch urged Iran to release Yousefi-Eshkevari in a statement issued from New York last week.

"Proceedings in these exceptional courts often fall short of international standards for fair trial," the statement said. "In Eshkevari's case, the proceedings were closed and his own lawyer was not permitted to attend."

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