TEHRAN A short brawl erupted on the floors of the Parliament on Monday after a member of the Judicial Committee came out in support of the dissident cleric Hassan Youssefi Eshkevari who awaits a verdict from the Special Court for the Clerics (SCC).
The prosecutor general of the court, with exclusive jurisdiction to try clerics, confirmed on Sunday that Eshkevari has been tried for apostasy and four other charges.
The anger of conservative MP Mohammad Mohammadi was aroused when another MP, Mohammad Ebaei Khorasani, criticized the court's announcement. Mohammadi asked the chamber: "Isn't hijab (Islamic dress code) obligatory and necessary?" The outspoken cleric, Eshkevari whose trial was in camera, was also indicted for his opposition to the Islamic dress code. His closed-door trial has drawn the condemnation of reformists in Iran and human rights groups abroad.
Eshkevari, 51, a mid-ranking cleric who advocates greater pluralism and tolerance in society, was arrested an August 5 on arrival from Berlin where he attended a conference on the future of Iran's reform movement.
An unnamed source in the Special Court for the Clerics on Tuesday told IRNA that Eshkevari was tried on charges of apostasy, waging war against God (moharebah), spreading corruption on earth, insulting religious sanctities and the late Imam Khomeini and endangering the national security.
The public prosecutor in charge of the case announced on Sunday afternoon that the SCC is ready with its verdict on Eshkevari.
Meanwhile, on Sunday Majlis Speaker Mahdi Karrubi dismissed as "unacceptable" the charges of apostasy and "moharebah" brought against Eshkevari.
(IRNA)