The total number of death sentences handed down in three days rises to five as demonstrations continue in the streets two months after the death of the 22-year-old woman of Kurdish origin who was arrested because she did not wear her headscarf properly
Three more people have been sentenced to death by Iranian courts following clashes in several cities in Iran, which today enters its third month of protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini.
Tehran’s Revolutionary Court issued a preliminary verdict sentencing three men described as “rioters and security disruptors” to capital punishment–meaning they can still be appealed.
The first was charged with causing “public disorder, insecurity in the country and causing damage to people and public property.” The second death sentence punishes a protester for “setting fire to the governorate of Pakdasht city.” The third convict is accused of “attempting to close a road, preventing the movement of vehicles and causing terror, as well as damaging public property,” according to the judiciary website.
This brings to five the total number of death sentences handed down in three days.
Other people in recent days, however, have been sentenced to prison, while, according to human rights organizations, some 16,000 people have been arrested since the mid-September demonstrations began. Now sentences are beginning to flow, with members of parliament calling on the courts to intervene with exemplary punishments. Of concern is the fate of a 16-year-old girl who has been held in jail for five days for questioning after being arrested in the town of Bani Naim.
Strikes in markets and protests in universities or on the streets of various Iranian cities continued today.
Recent months have seen scenes new to Iran: many women have cut their hair in the streets and set fire to their hijabs in rebellion against the authorities and the regime where even exchanging a kiss in public is forbidden.
In addition to demonstrations for Mahsa, protests are underway to commemorate the more than 1,500 people who died in the November 2019 crackdown known as “Bloody November,” triggered by the fuel price hike.
A large crowd gathered in front of the home of Foad Mohammadi, who was killed yesterday following heavy clashes between protesters and police during demonstrations in the Kurdish town of Kamyaran, where security forces opened fire on protesters, injuring several people.
Also yesterday, two other people were also killed in Sanandaj. In the capital Tehran, security forces used tear gas and firearms against protesters at the Iron Market, trying to threaten striking merchants into opening closed stores.
Among those arrested today were many university students while 150 female students from Alzahra Women’s University were banned from entering the university. “We will swear on the blood of our friends, we will resist until the end,” was one of the slogans chanted by female students demanding the release of imprisoned classmates.
Clashes between security forces also occurred at a subway station in the capital with some of the passengers shouting slogans such as, “We will fight and die to take back Iran.”
Meanwhile, on Telegram, despite censorship, videos calling for revolution are multiplying.