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Issue No. 65, Dec. 8, 1999

Murders resulted from fatwas (Serial 6507 -excerpt)

The assassination last year of leading Iranian dissidents byagents of the security services were carried out in accordance withfatwas (religious decrees) issued by senior clerics, a lawyer forsurviving family members of those slain told Sobh-e Emrouz daily onDec. 1

Dr. Naser Zarafshan said that court records show there is evidenceproving that the serial murders were committed based on fatwasdecrees issued by religious authorities. Those who issued the fatwasshould be identified to the people, he said.

He did not specify the evidence or identify the clerics who hadissued the fatwas. However, Zarafshan told the paper "those behindthe serial killings have confessed to many more murders than themurders of the Forouhars, Mokhtari and Pouyandeh." [...]

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