No sign of pardon for Iran blogger sentenced to death

The deputy head of Iran's judiciary has said that there is no move to pardon blogger Soheil Arabi, sentenced to execution over Facebook comments, but there is a request to review his case.
Customers use computers at an internet cafe in Tehran May 9, 2011. Websites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and countless others were banned shortly after the re-election of Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the huge street protests that followed. Seen by the government as part of a "soft war" waged by the enemies of the Islamic Republic, social networking and picture sharing sites were a vital communication tool for the anti-Ahmadinejad opposition -- more than a year before they played a similar rol
Customers use computers at an Internet cafe in Tehran, May 9, 2011. - REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi
Al Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East
Arash Karami
@thekarami

On Dec. 1, the deputy head of Iran’s judiciary, Gholam Ali Mohseni Ejei, responded to a reporter’s question about Soheil Arabi, who was sentenced to death for Facebook posts deemed insulting to the Prophet Muhammad. Ejei said, “Currently, there is no pardon, and he’s been convicted of ‘corruption on Earth,’ but there has been a request for his case to be reviewed again.”

According to the transcript provided by Islamic Republic News Agency, Mohseni Ejei did not elaborate further.

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