Islam in Asia > Cleric sentenced to death for siding with women in Iran

 

Iran: Sunni cleric sentenced to death for speaking at

commemorative event for man killed in hijab protests

FEB 13, 2024 9:00 AM BY ROBERT SPENCER

Terror is the only tool the Islamic Republic has, as it’s the only tool the Qur’an prescribes:

“Make ready for them all that you can of force and of warhorses, so that by them you may strike terror in the enemy of Allah and your enemy…” (Qur’an 8:60)

Iranian Sunni Kurdish Cleric Sentenced To Death

As Executions Soar

Iran International, February 11, 2024 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

A revolutionary court in Urmia has sentenced Sunni Kurdish cleric Mohammad Khezrnejad to death on charges of “corruption on earth.”

That's as opposed to corruption on the moon, or in Heaven, I guess. 

The 45-year-old cleric from Bukan in West Azarbaijan Province, also received a 15-year prison sentence on charges of “causing harm to the integrity or independence of the country,” along with an additional one-year imprisonment on charges of “propaganda against the system.”

Are those prison sentences to be served after the death sentence, or before? 

Khezrnejad’s most recent court session occurred in November via video conference, without the presence of a lawyer. Khezrnejad was arrested on November 19 after delivering a speech at a commemorative event for Asad Rahimi, a victim of the Women, Life, Freedom protests in Bukan.

Lawyers are not needed when the decision has already been agreed to by the court. 

Following his arrest, a coalition of religious scholars and Friday prayer leaders in Sanandaj and Dehgolan, in Kordestan province, demanded the immediate release of all protest detainees, including Khezrnejad. They cautioned the government against issuing death sentences for protesters….

But, it's not like the government has ever actually listened to anyone, ever.

 

Regime Change Leads to Chaos & Persecution of Christians – Senior Russian Cleric

Did you know there was a conference of 130 countries this week on Christian persecution, in Washington? This is the first I have heard of it. Certainly, you will not hear about it from main-stream media. But if such a conference were held about transgender rights, it would be front-page news. 

MSM's anti-Christian bias is showing again!

Metropolitan Illarion of Volokolamsk, vicar of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia 

© Ekaterina Chesnokova / Sputnik

The policy of regime change “in the name of democracy” gives terrorists control over vast territories and makes Christians flee and suffer, Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev told RT during his Washington visit.

One of the top clerics of the Russian Orthodox Church and head of External Church Relations, Hilarion Alfeyev, spoke to an RT correspondent after the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians, which took place in the US capital.

The forum gathered representatives of more than 130 countries to testify on the persecution of Christians around the world.

Alfeyev noted that events in some states have “one and the same scenario,” in which an existing regime is accused of various crimes and the leader is ousted for being ‘undemocratic.’

“The regime is overthrown in the name of democracy, but instead of democracy… political chaos comes,” he told RT.

This allows terrorists to seize territory, jeopardizing Christian communities and causing people to flee as they are persecuted in their own land.

“This is precisely the situation that is used by terrorists to gain control of huge territories. This happened in Iraq, this happened in Libya,” he said, adding that great amounts of people have left those countries and many Christians there are still in danger.

“In Iraq under Saddam Hussein there were 1.5 million Christians, now there is probably one tenth of this quantity left and even those who are left are in constant danger. In Libya there was a strong Christian community, there is practically none of it left,” he said.

He added that he does not support any particular regime, but they can maintain “certain balances” between various religious and ethnic groups. The destruction of these balances leads to “tragedy for the Christians of Middle East.”

“It is largely due to the actions of previous administrations of the United States that the situation in the Middle East developed in this deplorable direction,” he said.

In 2003, the US-led invasion of Iraq started under a false pretext to eliminate weapons of mass destruction allegedly possessed by leader Saddam Hussein. The weapons were never found, but Hussein was deposed and later executed. Following the invasion, Iraq suffered a growing insurgency, which led to the spread of terrorism, and eventually, Islamic State, which has been particularly ruthless in their persecution of religious minorities, including Christians.

The UN-authorized intervention in Libya in 2011 led to the overthrow and murder of the country’s leader, Muammar Gaddafi. Libya still does not have a unified government, and is torn apart by rival groups and radical jihadists.

Alfeyev also had the opportunity to speak with US Vice President Mike Pence ahead of the meeting in Washington.

“If there are several anti-terrorist coalitions which are fighting against one another, then the problem will remain and this is precisely what terrorists want. If the countries [are] able to set their political differences aside in order to act as allies in one anti-terrorist coalition, then it would be possible to win over terrorism,” he told Pence.

He also said that the Russian Orthodox Christian leadership supports Russia-US cooperation in restoring peace to Syria.

When asked why the US media does not pay much attention to the persecution of Christians, he said that many of them “are in the hands of those in opposition to the current President of the country.”

Alfeyev noted that he was rather surprised by the level of “anti-Trump hysteria” in the US media.

MI5 ‘Blocked’ Arrest of ISIS-Supporting Radical Preacher Choudary ‘for Years’

Many of us who pay attention to things like this have been frustrated for years trying to figure out why the British allowed this nut-case to continue preaching his Islamic insanity. Now we know why, and personally, I think it was extremely irresponsible. How many young people were radicalized in this time frame? How many terrorist attacks was he involved in during that time?


Islamic preacher Anjem Choudary © Tal Cohen / Reuters

Counterterrorism officers were repeatedly blocked by British security service MI5 from pursuing criminal investigations against Britain’s highest-profile radical preacher, Anjem Choudary, it has been claimed.

Last week, Choudary was found guilty of supporting Islamic State, which seized territory in Iraq and Syria and inspired terrorist attacks across Europe.

Following his conviction, it was revealed that the 49-year-old former lawyer had been linked to at least 15 terrorist plots since 2001. Police also believe he has connections to as many as 500 of the 850 young British Muslims who have traveled abroad to join IS.

According to the Telegraph, counter-terrorism officers often felt they had enough evidence to build a case against the cleric, only to be told to hang fire by MI5 because he was crucial to one of their ongoing investigations.

The situation led to a build-up of tension between the two sides, with police feeling “frustrated” that Choudary was not being brought to justice, a source told the newspaper.

He was eventually prosecuted after swearing an oath of allegiance to IS and posting YouTube videos in which he praised the group.

One counterterrorism source says the decision not to prosecute him earlier came from MI5.

“I am gobsmacked that we allowed him to carry on as long as he did. He was up to his neck in it, but the police can’t do full investigations on people if the security service say they are working on a really big job, because they have the priority,” he told the Telegraph.

“That is what they did constantly. While the police might have had lots of evidence, they were pulled back by the security service because he [Choudary] was one of the people they were monitoring.

“It was very frustrating and did cause some tension, but we were told we had to consider the bigger picture.”

Security expert Will Geddes said while police and security services had a good record of working together, there was often a difficult balance to strike between prosecuting evidence and gathering intelligence.

“Whilst the cops always want the collars the spooks want the information and it is a challenge getting the right balance.

“Choudary was certainly clever and knew where the line was, and that was part of the reason it took so long to get him. But it was certainly possible that MI5 wanted to continue to monitor him because he was the focal point of so much,” Geddes told the Telegraph.

“Given how influential he was in terms of setting up the forums for those guys to get inspired, it made perfect sense for the intelligence agencies to say ‘we haven’t exhausted this yet.’

“In the end though he got caught because he believed his press too much and he got carried away by his own media profile."

Choudary faces up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced on September 6.