Iran’s judiciary has sentenced three more anti-government protesters to death on charges of “war against God”, Mizan news agency reported on Monday, defying growing international criticism of the crackdown on protesters.
Iran hanged two other people there, one of them a karate champion with several national titles, in an attempt to stamp out the demonstration, which has been very slow since carrying out executions in the week of arrest.
Mizan said Saleh Mirhashemi, Majid Kazemi and Saeid Yaghoubi, who had been convicted of killing members of the volunteer Basij militia during anti-government protests in the central city of Isfahan, could appeal the verdict.
The Basij forces, affiliated with the elite Revolutionary Guards, have been at the forefront of the country’s clampdown on riots triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in the custody of Iran’s morality police on September 16.
Pope Francis on Monday condemned Iran for using the death penalty against protesters calling for greater respect for women.
“The right to life is also threatened in places where the death penalty continues to be carried out, as is the case today in Iran, after new demonstrations demanding more respect for the dignity of women,” Francis said.
One of the boldest challenges to clerical leadership since the 1979 revolution, the protests drew support from Iranians across all walks of life and challenged the Islamic Republic’s legitimacy by calling for the downfall of its rulers.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei signaled on Monday that the country had no intention of reducing his position, saying in a televised address that those who “burn public places have committed treason without a doubt”. Under Iranian Islamic law, treason is punishable by death.
Rights activists see the executions, arrests and harsh sentences of protesters by the clerical establishment as an attempt to intimidate protesters and instill enough fear in the population to end the riots.
Although the establishment redoubled its repression, small-scale protests persisted in Tehran, Isfahan and several other cities.
At least four people have been hanged since the demonstrations began, according to the court, including two protesters on Saturday for allegedly killing Basij members.
Amnesty International said last month that Iranian authorities had sought the death penalty for at least 26 others in what it called “fake trials designed to intimidate protesters”.
Rights activists on social media said two other protesters, 22-year-old Mohammad Ghobadlou and 18-year-old Mohammad Boroughani, had been moved to solitary confinement before their execution at Rajai Shahr prison in the city of Karaj.
A video on social media, which Reuters could not verify, showed people gathering on Sunday in front of the prison chanting slogans against Khamenei.
The European Union, the United States and other Western countries have condemned Iran for using the death penalty against protesters.
Condemning the latest execution of protesters in Iran, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Monday that “a regime that kills its own youth to terrorize the population has no future”.
The Islamic Republic, which blames the unrest on foreign enemies including the United States, sees the protest action as safeguarding national sovereignty.
Source: Reuters
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