Aghajari, the prominent Iranian academic condemned...

Aghajari, the prominent Iranian academic condemned to death for blasphemy refuses to appeal his sentence, his lawyer told AFP, after the judiciary said the controversial verdict will be upheld unless Hashem Aghajari lodges an appeal. "My client is still determined not to appeal," Saleh Nikhbakht said. Earlier, chief prosecutor Abdolnabi Namazi told the state news agency IRNA that the verdict will be upheld unless Aghajari makes an appeal before December 3. "The case will be sent to Tehran only if Hashem Aghajari makes an appeal," Namazi said. The prosecutor's comment came the day after a judicial spokesman insisted the verdict would be reviewed, in line with an order from supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But Namazi said that "in order for the case to be reviewed, Hashem Aghajari is obliged to make an appeal." His lawyer said it was up to the judiciary, and not his client, to submit to Khamenei's order.