Iran: Ayatollah Boroujerdi Being Prepared for Execution
by Shabnam Assadollahi
October 1, 2014 at 6:30 am
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4749/ayatollah-boroujerdi-execution
At 2:30am this morning friends telephoned and told us in tears that they had
been informed from Iran that the prison guards have just transferred
Ayatollah Hossein Kazamani Boroujerdi to prepare his execution.

Ayatollah Tortured, Near Death, in Iran for Criticizing Political Islam
by Shadi Paveh
February 5, 2014 at 5:00 am
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4158/ayatollah-hossein-kazamani-boroujerdi

Ayatollah Boroujerdi's condition has reportedly worsened as of January 28,
2014, when he suffered severe body tremors and was motionless for hours in
his cell. The authorities still refuse to transfer him to a medical facility
and are denying him the most basic medical care. We ask for intervention to
save his life.

Ayatollah Hossein-Kazamani Boroujerdi, a senior member of the Shiite Muslim
clergy, is presently serving the eighth year of an 11-year sentence handed
down to him by the Islamic Republic's courts for advocating the separation
of state and religion inside Iran. He has also spoken against political
Islam and its leaders. As a result, during his time in prison, he has been
exposed to torture especially reserved for the Islamic Republic's dissident
clergy and political prisoners. Boroujerdi has endured the rape of his
spouse in front of other family members. He has been purposely exposed to
toxic chemical agents while kept in a small solitary cell. As a result, he
now suffers permanent neurological damage, further aggravated by group
beatings. Urgent medical attention has been systematically withheld for his
long list of ailments, which are mostly a direct result of years of torture
and malnutrition.

On September 29, 2013, for example, Ayatollah Boroujerdi suffered a heart
attack in prison for which he was refused medical intervention. His
condition has reportedly worsened as of January 28, 2014, when he had severe
body tremors and was motionless for hours in his cell, where he presently
remains with no medical care.

Possibly due to Ayatollah Boroujerdi's prominence, the regime has apparently
chosen not to execute him, but instead to kill him silently in prison. There
were two failed attempts on his life by poisoning inside prison in 2012. His
mother, detained at the same time, was also poisoned and died as a result.
Previously, in November 2011, a prisoner on death row was told by the
authorities that if he succeeded in killing Boroujerdi he would be set free.
The attempt failed when other prisoners intervened.

To protest the violent crimes of political Islam in the Islamic Republic,
Boroujerdi announced via audio tape from prison that: "I am not inclined
anymore to wear this frock; this frock has no credit or value in Iran or the
international community" and removed his clerical robes.

Ayatollah Boroujerdi descends from a long line of renowned Shiite clergy;
both his father and grandfather were staunch opponents of religious leaders
in politics. As a result, both of his parents, along with his brother, were
killed by the authorities under mysterious circumstances, as is the regime's
custom.

Despite his critical medical condition in prison, he remains defiant and his
spirit remains unbreakable: he has stated hopes that his case will serve as
a strong indictment of the Islamic Republic's despotic rule and unspeakable
human rights violations.

Ayatollah Boroujerdi has risked losing his life slowly under torture by
writing letters from inside prison to then-U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton and to the United Nations, speaking of the absolute lack of freedom
inside Iran, the grotesque human rights violations and the imminent danger
of political Islam. Further, he recently urged people of Iran to boycott the
so-called elections on June 14, 2013. As a direct result of this statement
his tortures recommenced despite his extremely fragile medical condition.

Ms. Roya Araghi, an advocate of Boroujerdi who herself was jailed and
tortured for defending the him, and has since fled Iran, believes that
without medical treatment and international intervention, Ayatollah
Boroujerdi will most likely die soon under torture.

On June 29, 2013, members of Ayatollah Boroujerdi's family went to Evin
prison to visit him, and were shocked to see nature of his physical
condition in the seventh year of his 11-year sentence. He has developed
acute heart disease, which has led to the severe swelling of his feet and
knees. He also suffers from ocular, pulmonary and respiratory disorders, but
has been denied medical treatment by officials until he "repents "and "mends
his ways".

On July 8, 2013, Boroujerdi was interrogated for an extended period of time
by government agents for his refusal to concede to the demands of the regime
by signing a letter of "repentance." He was informed that "the pressures and
tortures will increase until he has been destroyed". He has thus far refused
to surrender.

In a rare phone call to his family that followed this episode, he stated
that he "will never give in to a single threat or intimidation tactic of the
regime." His family stated that he also added, "he does not regret any of
his actions and stands by his word, as he is prepared to die".

After their visit, the Boroujerdi family announced that the tyrannical
regime of the Islamic Republic's fanatics continue systematically to
exterminate political prisoners and prisoners of conscience through
well-planned prolonged torture; both psychological and physical.

Despite a statement by then-U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2012
and a plea by the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran, Dr. Ahmad Shaheed, to
release Ayatollah Boroujerdi, the Iranian regime continues to torture this
man of God whose only crime is advocating separation of religion from
politics, democracy and human rights.

On July 24, 2013, Andrew Bennett, Canada's Ambassador to the Office of
Religious Freedom, condemned the prolonged detention of Grand Ayatollah
Boroujerdi by Iranian authorities, but to no avail.

The regime of Iran is silently executing Mr. Boroujerdi, without a bullet or
a noose -- away from the eyes of the world. These silent executions are now
a common method of killing political prisoners in Iran as the regime tries
to hide its grotesque human rights violations and its escalating rate of
executions of opponents.

The human rights activists for democracy in Iran would like to bring to the
immediate attention of all international human rights organizations and
governments that Ayatollah Boroujerdi's life is in grave danger due to
deliberate withholding of necessary medical care by the authorities in Iran.
We ask for an intervention on his behalf, to save his life.