Jailed Former Cleric on Hunger Strike

A former cleric currently detained in Iran has started a hunger strike, IranWire has learned. 

Authorities originally arrested Aynolah Rezazadeh Jouybari at 4am at his home in Urmia in West Azerbaijan province after he called for a rally to mourn for protesters who were killed during widespread unrest in November 2019. He faces charges of "insulting the Supreme Leader" and "propaganda against the regime."

During his first arrest, he was held in the Urmia Intelligence Detention Center for five nights and for 13 days in Miandoab Prison. 

The recent arrest was carried out by security forces in Sari in Mazandaran province. 

He removed his clerical robes on September 1 in protest against Iran’s leaders and their treatment of protesters, including the Supreme Leader, and following his trial, which was on the same day. He has been detained for the last 24 days, and has not been informed of the verdict. He began his hunger strike 23 days ago and has also refused medicine.

Rezazadeh Jouybari went public with his decision to resign as a cleric, posting an open letter online outlining his reasons on September 1.

The cleric has a long history of clashes with Iran’s leaders, and has been openly critical of both Ayatollah Khamenei and the Islamic Republic since 1990, soon after Khamenei succeeded Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after the first leader’s death in 1989. He opposed the principle of Velayat-e Faqih, or the guardianship of the Islamic jurist, which grants the Supreme Leader full power over the country. Over the years, Rezazadeh Jouybari has faced arrest and prison on numerous occasions.

He was sent into exile in Takab in West Azerbaijan as punishment, and it was from there that he called for the public to observe the traditional Islamic mourning ritual for the protesters killed in November 2019 by joining together in the streets 40 days after many of them died.

"These gentlemen use Shia jurisprudence as a pretext for their desire for power," the letter of protest penned on the day he resigned from the clergy said.“They sacrificed basic Islamic rules in the name of Velayat-e-Faqih, and to ensure their continued rule. Prioritizing the protection of the regime, they sacrificed the truthfulness and honesty that Shia sources of emulation should have for their greed.

"Accusing some people of deception, they stole bread from the family of Islam. In the name of fighting infidelity, not only did the politics of this country not follow religious values, religion became contaminated with the sordid intentions of politicians posing as religious leaders. Gentlemen of Shia scholars and jurists! The nation will interpret this silence of yours as a sign of your consent. Calmly objecting without taking any risks might absolve you of your responsibilities but it will not change anything.

“This group has not only desecrated the clergy, but also violated the sanctity of religion. I not only consider this religious garb as a disgrace, but I apologize for the time I spent wearing it in the presence of the Iranian nation, my friends, my martyred comrades and martyred brothers, and while the blood of the youth of this country was unjustly shed, as was the blood of the martyrs who fought for the freedom of this nation.

"I firmly believed that the only way to save the reputation of the Shia clergy was to cleanse it of the filth of political involvement. But now my concern is not with the reputation of the clergy, but with the shaking of the foundations of religion in the minds of modern Iranians.

"I will strip myself of the turban and put on the hat of love for Iran and patriotism and bow to the free will of the Iranian people, which will be realized in the not-too-distant future.”

The clergy’s special court had stripped Rezazadeh Jouybari of his clerical robes in the past, but the letter sets out that he took the decision to remove his clerical garb as an act of protest. 

No date has been provided for the announcement of his verdict.