Iranian justice announced on Tuesday that it had pronounced the death penalty against five people for having killed a paramilitary during the demonstrations triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini, bringing to eleven the number of death sentences in the context of these disturbances.
Iran is the scene of protests sparked by the death on September 16 of this 22-year-old Iranian Kurd who died after her arrest by the morality police for breaching the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code, including the wearing of the veil for women. .
The five death row prisoners were found guilty on Monday of the death of Ruhollah Ajamian, a member of the Basij militia, linked to the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic, said during a press conference Massoud Setayeshi.
They were accused of “corruption on earth”, one of the most serious charges in the Iranian penal code, of “crimes against the security of the country, against the physical integrity of people and serious disturbances to order audience “.
In addition, eleven people, including three minors, were sentenced to “long prison terms”, added Mr. Setayeshi.
A woman was also sentenced, but he did not specify her sentence.
These judgments are subject to appeal before the Supreme Court, but it is rare for this body to reverse a death sentence decided in first instance by a revolutionary court.
The death of the paramilitary took place on November 3 near the Karaj cemetery, west of Tehran, during a rally marking the 40e day of mourning following the death of a protester.
Arrest of “saboteurs”
According to the prosecution, the convicted persons attacked the unarmed security guard, stripped him, stabbed him, beat him and then dragged his naked body down the street.
Six people had already been sentenced to death in November.
The authorities see the demonstrations rocking the country as “riots” and regularly accuse the United States and its Western allies as well as Kurdish groups based abroad of being the instigators of this unprecedented protest movement.
They arrested thousands of people and reported the deaths of some 300 people, including protesters and security forces.
The Revolutionary Guards announced on Tuesday the arrest of twelve people accused of belonging to a “group of saboteurs” with links to European countries.
“The members of this network, under the leadership of counter-revolutionary agents living in Germany and the Netherlands, attempted to obtain arms and intended […] to carry out activities against national security,” the Revolutionary Guards of Markazi province said in a statement quoted by the Tasnim agency.
“They were captured” and their “plan of riots failed”, they added, without specifying the place and the date of the arrests.
Last weekend, the Attorney General of Iran, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, announced the abolition of the vice police, created in 2006, an announcement perceived as a gesture towards the demonstrators.
For his part, MP Hossein Jalali proposed to “change the method” in relation to women who refuse to wear the compulsory veil. “We could consider (them) threatening by SMS to block their bank account,” he said, quoted Tuesday by the daily Shargh.