Iran's hardline-controlled judiciary stood behind the...

Iran's hardline-controlled judiciary stood behind the sentencing to death of a prominent pro-reform academic, hitting out at parliamentary efforts to have the ruling quashed. "This case will follow its normal course," judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmud Hashemi-Shahrudi was quoted as saying by state radio. A separate statement from Hamedan justice department, behind the sentencing to death on November 6 of Hashem Aghajari, also backed the ruling. "According to the verdicts of the founder of the Islamic republic Imam (Ruhollah) Khomeini and others, rejecting the necessities of religion is infidelity," said a statement carried by IRNA. "The remarks by Hashem Aghajari were an insult to Islam, the divine position of the Shiite Imams and holy principles." The statement also hit out at speaker of parliament Mehdi Karrubi, who predicted that the war veteran and academic would soon be freed."According to the constitution, the judiciary is in charge of prosecutions, punishments and implementing Islamic punishments," the statement from Hamedan's justice department said bluntly. It said parliament should refrain from "insults, propaganda and creating an atmosphere of tension and wait until legal proceedings are over." Shahrudi said "certain" officials "do not understand the judicial system". "Everyday, there are dozens of verdicts pronounced, and a large number of these verdicts are reduced on appeal or by the supreme court," he told state radio.