Abad-Shahi

During the rule of Mohammad-Reza Pahlavi, members of the opposition who were sentenced to death were able to receive a sentence commutation from the Shah if they sought pardon from him by submitting a letter to His Majesty’s court and expressing remorse, or pressuring the Pahlavi government through the maraja’ (senior religious authorities) and international human rights organizations. According to the so-called political prisoners, their death sentence converted to “abad-shahi;” a death penalty changed to a “life sentence” by the grace of the Shah.

Also, if a political prisoner had been sentenced to the death penalty, his sentence may be converted to “life imprisonment” by the court. This case was called an “abad-dadgahi,” in which the condemned person could get more amnesty if the court found it appropriate while there was no new amnesty in “abad-shahi” unless the Shah ordered it again on his own decision.

Sayyed Mohammad-Kazem Mousavi-Bojnourdi, the leader of the Islamic Nations Party, is one of those who got an “abad-shahi.”