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IRAN - Death sentences for protesters
December 5, 2022: Death sentences for protesters
On December 5, Branch One of the Alborz province Revolutionary Court sentenced five people to death for charges of efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth). They are five of 16 co-defendants (previously reported as 15) in the same case of an IRGC officer being killed at the scene of a protest on the Karaj-Qazvin motorway on November 3. Protesters were marking the 40th day of protester Hadis Najafi being killed in the city that day when they were attacked by security forces. The other eleven defendants were sentenced to lengthy prison terms. The first forced confessions related to the case were aired on November 6, prior to any legal proceedings and the trials of all 16 defendants including three children took place over three days. It took just a month from arrest to death sentences being issued.
At the Judiciary’s Supreme Council meeting, on December 5, the Head of Judiciary, Mohseni-Ejei stated that death penalty sentences had been issued and upheld for security-related charges against several protesters and already sent for implementation.
Mohseni-Ejei has further asserted that death penalty sentences have been issued for the defendants in the case of two basijis being killed in Mashhad, with the case currently at the Supreme Court. The judiciary had previously reported on the trial, naming Majidreza Rahnavard as the main defendant. The IRGC’s Fars news reported of eight other defendants in the case, it is not clear how many others have also received the death penalty. Majidreza’s charges have previously been reported as moharebeh (enmity against god) through killing two basiji forces and injuring four with a cold weapon (knife). Prior to the aforementioned six people, the Judiciary had previously announced death sentences against six other protesters, bringing the number to 12 with Majidreza Rahnavard. Dozens more are currently facing death penalty charges with many unconfirmed cases circling on social media. It is important to note that the Islamic Republic has been intentionally withholding the names of protesters with confirmed death sentences and issuing contradictory statements while defendants have no access to their lawyers per the Note to Article 48 of the Code of Criminal Procedures and authorities prevent family contact.
https://iranhr.net/en/articles/5623/ (Source: IHR)
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