Presumption of guilt and had their careers ruined during the era of McCarthyism and the Second Red Scare, or even killed like Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. The McCarthyites 'never produced a single Communist spy whose guilt was proved in court.' In 1989, Ayatollah Khomeini, supreme leader of Iran, pronounced a death sentence by fatwa on Salman Rushdie and anyone assisting publication of his book, "The Satanic Verses"; 'I call on all Muslims wherever they may be in the world to kill them without delay'. the Fatwa was condemned for violating national sovereignty, freedom of speech, and the Muslim principle of fiqh. In the
Knighthood of Salman Rushdie to Norway's request for a cancellation of the death "fatwa". Boroujerdi stated that the "Late Imam Khomeini's decree on Salman Rushdie is eternal and irrevocable. Honoring religious sanctities is necessary and all societies must respect this. All countries have a red line in their policies. For instance, in spite of freedom of speech a university professor and a political figure loses his job because of denying the Holocaust in Europe, insulting Muhammad has caused the late Imam to issue the decree which is irreversible." Addressing the talks with Norway over human rights, he went on to say that reports of