Death sentence for three more Iran protesters
KHAMENEI BLAMES ‘ECONOMIC AND LIVELIHOOD PROBLEMS’ FOR UNREST
Iran has sentenced to death three more people accused of killing members of the security forces during protests triggered by Mahsa Amini’s death, the judiciary said yesterday.
The Islamic republic has been rocked by civil unrest since the September 16 death in custody of Kurdish Iranian Amini, 22, following her arrest for allegedly violating Iran’s strict dress code for women.
The latest sentences, which can still be appealed, bring to 17 the total number of people condemned to death in connection with nearly four months of protests.
Four executions have been carried out and six of those sentenced to capital punishment have been granted retrials.
Saleh Mirhashemi, Majid Kazemi and Saeed Yaghoubi were sentenced to death on charges of “moharebeh” — or waging “war against God” — under Iran’s Islamic sharia law, the judiciary’s Mizan Online news website reported.
In addition, they were all found guilty of belonging to a “criminal group with the intention of disrupting the security of the country”, a charge that carries a 10-year jail term.
‘Treason’
Iranian authorities say hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed and thousands arrested during the protests which they mostly describe as “riots”.
Tehran accuses hostile foreign countries and opposition groups of stoking the unrest.
“The goal of people present in the riots was not to overcome the country’s weaknesses but to destroy its strengths”, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told an audience in Tehran yesterday.
Khamenei blamed “economic and livelihood problems” for the unrest but said “burning trash cans and rioting in the streets” were not acceptable responses.
“Undoubtedly, these actions are treason, and the responsible institutions deal with treason seriously and justly,” he added.