KHALKHALI, SADIQ

(1926-2003)

Ayatollah Sadiq Khalkhali was called "the hanging judge" because of his usage of summary and mass executions in helping to crush the Kurdish uprising inIranthat began in 1979 against the new Islamic Republic. As the chief judge of Iran's Revolutionary Courts, he also infamously sentenced to death thousands of other opponents of the new regime. His influence waned after December 1980 when he was forced to resign from his judicial position.

See alsoKhomeini, Ruhollah (Ayatollah).