Iran Man Who Came Back to Life After Hanging Should Not be Re-Executed, Grand Ayatollah Says

A grand ayatollah in Iran who lodged an official fatwa calling for the re-execution of criminals who do not die after attempted hangings said that his ruling should not be implemented for a man who returned to life in a morgue earlier in October.

37-year-old Alireza who was hanged two weeks ago, after being found in possession of a kilo of crystal meth, was hanged and pronounced dead after a rope was tightened around his neck for a total of 12 minutes. He was then sent to another site to prepare for burial, but workers at the morgue saw a patch of steam on the plastic covering his body, the Guardian reported.

Local Iranian news outlets reported Thursday that officials have organized to re-execute the father of two, on grounds that he was sentenced to death, not simply to hanging. The fatwa - a religious legal judgment - issued by the Shia grand ayatollah Lotfollah Safi Golpaygani has been brought forward as a piece of legislation that legitimizes this action.

But now, a statement has been released on Golpaygani's behalf that said his fatwa shouldn't be put to use in the case of Alireza, adding that he had "another view" about the condemned man's life.

"After the execution and before the burial, if the convict comes back to life while in the morgue or at the coroner's office and recovers after treatment, the verdict for Qisas [retribution] or Had [punishment] remains viable," a second portion of Golpaygani's fatwa read.

On the ayatollah's website, Golpaygani wrote that this man's particular situation did not apply to the fatwa.

"The issue that has been raised on [his book] has nothing to do with [this man's] case and the ayatollah has another view about this issue," the statement read. The details on Golpaygani's opinions on Alireza's fate were not listed online.

"Alizera's case is extraordinary and very exceptional," Amnesty International representative Drewery Dyke told the Guardian. "There's no complainant in his case and the chief of Iran's judiciary, Ayatollah Larijani, should intervene so that his life is spared."

Under sharia law in Iran, crimes like sodomy, rape, theft, fornication, apostasy and consumption of alcohol for a third time come with a mandatory death sentence. Alireza's charge is one of Tazir, a penalty whose punishment is up to the judge to decide.