Ayatollah Safi Golpayegani, a senior Iranian Shia cleric, has expressed his opposition to the proposed second hanging of a convict who did not die after his first hanging.
A question was put to Ayatollah Golpayegani about the case of Alireza M., who was recently subjected to execution but later was found alive in the morgue. IRNA reports that the senior cleric was asked if such a person could be executed again.
Ayatollah Safi Golpayegani responded: “Execution of such an individual is not permitted.”
The 37-year-old man was arrested three years ago and sentenced to death for possession of one kilogram of methamphetamine. Last Wednesday he was hanged in Bojnoord Prison and pronounced dead by the coroner. However, he was later found to be alive in the morgue and was transferred to hospital.
A judiciary official has been quoted as saying that he will have to be executed as soon as he recovers at the hospital because he was sentenced to death.
Amnesty International has also urged Iranian authorities to refrain from subjecting Alireza M. to another execution.
