LONDON: Britain’s Metropolitan Police is facing calls to prosecute a former senior Iranian government official accused of endorsing a fatwa against author Sir Salman Rushdie.
The Guardian newspaper reported on Monday that weather officials are examining a legal case file in which London-based Syed Attaullah Mohajerani has been accused of breaching the Terrorism Act 2006 by promoting terrorism.
A fatwa against Rushdie, following the publication of his 1988 novel “The Satanic Verses”, was issued in February 1989 by Ayatollah Khomeini, then Supreme Leader of Iran. It has never been raised. In August 2022, Rushdie was stabbed multiple times and seriously injured while appearing on stage at a literary festival in New York.
According to the Guardian, a complaint was filed against Mohajerani in the same month by Iranian human rights lawyer Kaveh Mousavi and British solicitor Rebecca Mooney. It states that Mohajerani was deputy to the Iranian prime minister in 1988 and vice president for parliamentary and legal affairs between 1989 and 1997, a period during which the regime in Tehran ordered the killing of hundreds of dissidents in Europe.
Mousavi and Mooney allege that Mohajerani did not attempt to stop the killings and, since moving to the UK, he has on several occasions praised General Qassem Soleimani, former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, as an Iranian national hero. Who was killed in a US drone strike in Iraq in January 2020.
They also state that in his 1989 book, “A Critique of the Satanic Verses Conspiracy”, Mohajerani defended the fatwa against Rushdie and clearly expressed his view that it was theologically justified and irreversible, and So it was impossible to take it back.
Mohajerani denied the allegations and said that his book was merely a criticism of Rushdie’s novel intended to shed light on its religious origins, The Guardian reported.
“When Salman Rushdie was assaulted by an American citizen, I tweeted that I hope Salman Rushdie recovers from the incident, and based on William Faulkner’s advice, in the service of mankind, the beauties and the moral Will write a novel focusing on values.” Mohajerani told the Guardian.
“On the contrary, in ‘The Satanic Verses’, he added a huge amount of fuel to the fire. Hopefully he gets a fair chance to rectify himself.
Mohajerani also stated that he had no role in the execution of prisoners in 1988, due to the separation of powers between the judiciary and the executive in Iran.
Mousavi condemned Mohajerani’s defense as “a sign of his culpability”.
“The idea that this is or was an independent judiciary is absolutely absurd. He repeats this reaffirms who he really is,” he told the Guardian.
“In law, he was required to resist and do his utmost to prevent these crimes, and if unable, he should resign. I doubt very much whether his defense attorneys will be able to defend or mitigate in the court case.” Will offer these concoctions in form.
Police in London have reportedly said that the investigation into the complex issues raised by the case file will require significant resources and additional time.
Mooney, representing the human rights charity Ending Immunity, highlighted UK authorities’ obligations under international law to prosecute international crimes.
“The first duty of the state is to protect its citizens – which requires appropriate, proscriptive and punitive measures,” she said. “That is why we have terrorism laws, which include promoting terrorism through speech (against the law). If we don’t prosecute, then having these laws is meaningless.”