At least 100 Iranians detained during the demonstrations that have taken place in Iran since September are facing death penalty, the non-governmental organization (NGO) Iran Human Rights (IHR), based in Oslo, warned on Tuesday.
Iran is facing a wave of protests, which began after the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish girl who had been arrested three days earlier by the vice squad, who held her in custody, on charges of abusing hijabthe Islamic veil.
Iranian authorities this month executed two men convicted of their role in the demonstrations, in an escalation of repression by the authorities that activists say aims to instill fear in the population.
In a report released today, cited by Agence France Presse (AFP), the IHR identified 100 detainees at risk of being sentenced to the death penalty, 13 of whom are already on death row. The NGO warns that many of these detainees have limited access to a lawyer.
“By issuing death sentences and executing some protesters, the authorities want people to go home.” IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam told AFP.
The behavior of the authorities, the official said, “had a certain effect”. “But what we saw in general was an increase in anger against the authorities,” he said, defending that “the strategy of instilling fear with the executions backfired.”
According to the IHR, 476 protesters have been killed since mid-September.
In November, the United Nations reported that at least 14,000 people had been detained since the start of protests in Iran.
Majidreza Rahnavard, 23, was publicly hanged on December 12 after being convicted by a court in Machhad, northeastern Iran, of killing two members of the security forces.
Four days earlier, Mohsen Shekari, also 23, had been executed for wounding a member of the security forces.
According to judicial authorities, nine other people have been sentenced to death in connection with the protests. The judgments of two of these people will be repeated.
Source: DN
