Hasan Yousefi Eshkevari ( fa, حسن یوسفی اشکوری, born 1950) is an

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

cleric, researcher, journalist,

reformist Reformism is a political doctrine advocating the reform of an existing system or institution instead of its abolition and replacement. Within the socialist movement, reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can eve ...

and former political prisoner. He has been described as "an active supporter of the revolution" who became "an outspoken and influential critic of the current Iranian version of theocracy."

Career

Eshkevari was the founder and director of the Ali Shariati Research Centre. He was also contributing editor of the newspaper ''Iran-e Farda'', which was banned in April 2000. He was a prolific contributor to the Great Islamic Encyclopedia, and an editor of the Encyclopedia of the Shia, both edited in Tehran.

Controversy

On 5 August 2000, Eshkevari was arrested after returning from the

'Iran After the Elections' Conference Iran After the Parliamentary Elections: The Dynamic of Reforms in the Islamic Republic (german: Iran nach den Parlamentswahlen: Die Reformdynamik in der Islamischen Republik; commonly known as the Berlin Conference in Iran) was a three-day confer ...

held in Berlin 7–9 April 2000, in Berlin, Germany. At the conference, Eshkevari was quoted as saying

Even if
Khatami Sayyid Mohammad Khatami ( fa, سید محمد خاتمی, ; born 14 October 1943) is an Iranian politician who served as the fifth president of Iran from 3 August 1997 to 3 August 2005. He also served as Iran's Minister of Culture from 1982 to ...
... should be defeated in his work ... this time not only has democracy become the first priority, but there is an unprecedented consensus among the intellectual and the political elites ... the historical time of despotism is over in Iran.

Eshkevari’s trial was held behind closed doors between 7 and 17 October 2000 in the

Special Court for the Clergy Special Clerical Court, or Special Court for Clerics ( fa, دادگاه ویژه روحانیت) is a special Iranian court system for prosecuting Islamic clergymen and scholars accused of improper activity and conduct unbecoming of a cleric. The ...

. He is believed to have been convicted of "acting against national security" in connection with a speech he gave at the conference, "defaming government officials in articles", "starting a campaign against the system", and "denying and insulting the holy religion of Islam". In addition he was charged with "declaring war on God", "being corrupt on earth" (

Mofsed-e-filarz Mofsed-e-filarz ( fa, مفسد فی الارض, also Mofsed fel-Arz, Afsad-i fil Arz, or fasad-fel-arz, ar, المفسد في الأرض Al-Mufsid fi al-Arḍ, also fasad fi 'l-ard lit. ''Corrupt on Earth'') is the title of capital crimes (or the ...

), and

apostasy Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that i ...

– all of which carry the death penalty – but these three charges were overturned. New charges of ‘propaganda against the Islamic Republic’ and ‘insulting top-rank officials’ were filed against him at the Special Court for the Clergy, for which he received a sentence of seven years’ imprisonment on 17 October 2002. He was released from prison on 6 February 2005.PEN, Hojjatoleslam Hasan Yousefi Eshkevari
/ref> In 2002 he was convicted in the

for a number of charges including "spreading lies, insulting Islamic sanctities." He was defrocked by the Islamic Republic and served four years in prison before and after his conviction. During the crackdown on

protests A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of coopera ...

over the 2009 presidential elections in Iran, Eshkevari fled to Germany to seek

political asylum The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another enti ...

.Dissident cleric lambasts current Iranian [government]
By JUERGEN BAETZ, Associated Press, 11 November 2011

Views

Eshkevari spoke out against the 2009 presidential elections, which, he is convinced, were rigged. In 2010, he advocated a secular governmental system in Iran, for which, he suggests, the original draft of the 1979 constitution could serve as a blueprint. In 2011 at a conference of Iran scholars and experts in Berlin, he attacked the Ahmadinejad administration, stating that it had "crossed almost all political and religious lines," and that the Iranian government was so deeply at odds with

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...

tradition, it ultimately threatening to "destroy Islam, the government and the country." Some of his work on Islamic democratic government were featured in a book titled ''Islam and Democracy in Iran: Eshkevari and the Quest for Reform (Library of Modern Middle East Studies)'' First Edition () by Ziba Mir-Hosseini and Richard Tapper, 2006. Other publications that featured some of his work include: * *

Works

(in

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

) *''A Hundred Years of Iranian History 1879–1979'' (Qom 1974) *''Justice in the Monotheistic Worldview'' (Qom 1975) *''Broken Idols: An Analysis of the Foundations of Twentieth Century Civilization'' (Qom 1977) *''A Review of the Study of Creation: Issues in Islamic Anthropology'' (Tehran 1997) *''Religious Revivalism: Analysis and Criticism of the Contemporary Islamic Movement: Interviews with ten political-cultural figures'' (Tehran, first edition 1998, second edition 1999) *''Wisdom in the Feast of Religion'' (Tehran 2000) *''Remembering the Days: Political Approaches of the Reformist Movement in Iran'' (Tehran 2000) *''Solitary Reflections: A Prelude to Iranian Hermeneutics'' (2003) *''A Critique of Religious Discourse'' ( a translation of a book by Nasr Abu Zaid) (2004) *''Letters from Prison to my Daughters'' (2004)Islam and Democracy in Iran: Eshkevari and the Quest for Reform By Hasan Yousefi
pp. 182-3

References

External links/Further reading

PEN, Hojjatoleslam Hasan Yousefi Eshkevari

Political Islam and violence

Profile: International Cities of Refuge Network

Essay: God's Uprooted Warriors

Hasan Yousefi Eshkevari

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