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Following are excerpts from a public address delivered by prominent Iranian Shiite cleric Ayatollah Yousef Sanei, posted on the Internet on August 12, 2009.
Ayatollah Yousef Sanei: Look what has become of the friends of Imam [Khomeini]. They have become martyrs one after the other. Some of those people, who were among the regime's top officials, are today in prison for wanting to change the regime. Is this conceivable?
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Did the honorable engineer Mousavi – whom I have known for 24-25 years, whose family and forefathers I have known, and with whose way of living I am familiar – really intend to topple the regime? Did he really intend the people's blood to flow in the streets? Did he intend for the people's property to be looted? Did he intend their shops to be destroyed? Did he intend for bullets to be aimed at people's hearts, from up high? Let me tell you, in this regime, there are very few – if any – people like engineer Mousavi, in terms of religious piety and devotion.
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Nobody has the right to punish the guilty beyond the punishment set by law.
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The Emir of the Believers [Ali bin Abi Talib] said that if someone is imprisoned and pressure is exerted to get him to confess, his confession is invalid if he was intimidated. Extracting a confession means keeping the person away from the outside world. I hereby declare: If somebody confesses when he has no contact with the outside world – no newspapers, no radio, no visits – according to the Emir of the Believers, about who we talk so much, and who is used by [some of] us for their own interests, this confession is not an honorable one, and it is worthless.
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So many unspeakable deeds have been committed, in the name of the constitution and in the name of Islam. What are we doing to Imam [Khomeini]? Young people, what is happening now is contrary to the conduct of the Imam.
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I said [to an official]: Declare the elections null and void. It won't be the end of the world. This is a mess that can easily be untangled. In the particular circumstances that have arisen, declare the elections null and void, and hold them again. He said: "No, there weren't any forgeries."
You say there was no forgery?! Somebody said: "I will bring 70 reasons to prove there is no water in this pool." Someone else said: "I will bring just one reason to prove there is water." He threw him into the pool, and said: "Is there or isn't there water?" Now it's reached the point that even annulling the elections will not help them. It will not help them anymore. My dears, the more the pressure grows, the more awareness there will be. There will be more hatred.
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The Islamic regime has to behave well, at least toward those who labored on its behalf. Those are the basics of politics. But what can we do? God has taken away their brains. Praise the Lord for making our enemies stupid.
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It is our duty not to become dependent upon a media outlet that lies and makes incorrect statements. If a newspaper, radio station, or a TV channel lies, if a cleric like myself lies – we should not be dependent upon them. At the very least, we should not listen to them, lest we be influenced by them.
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I am talking about a media outlet that has caused hundreds to be arrested, and is proud of it. It insulted and humiliated them. Is this Islam?! Fine, investigate them – but why humiliate them? Why this special clothing? Why treat them this way? Is this Islam?!
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Hatred is very dangerous for governments. My dears, do not despair. Let people know [what's going on], but in soft tones. Be aware that paying attention to false media runs counter to the Koran.
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Today, the criminals are making efforts to keep people unaware [of what's happening]. Therefore, they are afraid of any tiny piece of knowledge. They are afraid that one person will contact another.
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Woe unto a people that talks about anything but its own pain. The pain is the pain of the prisoners being held by the oppressors, of those who lost weight [in prison]. They make jokes and say: [Abtahi] has been to a sauna. The pain is the pain of those whose confessions were extracted by force. The pain is the pain of those who cannot pray over the bodies of their loved ones.
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In Islam, collective reason takes precedence over individual reason. If 60 million say one thing and one person says another, it is inconceivable in Islam to do what the one person says. This is contrary to reason, to everything.
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Thank God we do not share even one iota of the sins of these "gentlemen." Praise be to God! These are the sins of killing, of exerting pressure, of torture. Any one of these sins merits eternal hell. "Whoever murders a believer – his punishment is eternal hell."
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