Iran issues first death sentence amid protests: Report
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Sulaiman
- . November 14, 2022
- . Update: November 14, 2022 3:55 pm
The Islamic Republic of Iran has issued the first death sentence to a protester amid anti-government and anti-hijab protests, state media said on Sunday.
Iran’s Revolutionary Court sentenced an anti-government protester to death and gave jail terms to five other protesters. Mizan, a news website linked to Iran’s judiciary, said the protester set fire to a government building. Subsequently, the court issued the death sentence to the protester.
Mizan said that separate branches of the Revolutionary Court issued the verdicts to the protesters. Jail terms for five other protesters ranged from five to 10 years over alleged national security and public order violations.
The verdict marks the first death sentence in the trials of those arrested for participating in anti-government protests. The country has already issued indictments for hundreds of detained protesters.
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Some protesters have been accused of “corruption on earth” and “war against God,” offences that carry the death penalty in the Islamic Republic.
According to the Oslo-based Iran Human Rights, Iranian security forces have violently cracked down on the demonstrations, killing more than 300 people.
Javaid Rehman, Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, also said that more than 14,000 people were arrested in the country amid protests. In an address to the United Nations Security Council, Rehman said that Iran’s decision to hold public trials for 1,000 protesters include the charges of the death penalty. Judicial authorities have already announced charges against hundreds of people in the country.
Protests started in the Islamic Republic in mid-September after the death of a 22-year-old Iranian-Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, who was detained after allegedly violating the country’s dress code for women. The protests have entered their eighth week. Protests have spread
