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10-01-2023
TEHRAN: Iran has sentenced to death three people accused of killing three members of the security forces during the protests triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini, the judiciary said Monday.
The country has been rocked by civil unrest since the September 16 death 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 the more than three months of protests.
Four of those convicted have been executed and two others are on death row after their sentences were upheld by the country’s Supreme Court.
Saleh Mirhashemi, Majid Kazemi and Saeed Yaghoubi were sentenced to death on charges of “moharebeh” or waging “war against God”, the judiciary’s Mizan Online news website reported.
Two others were handed prison terms for the incident that led to the deaths of three security force members in the central province of Isfahan on November 16, Mizan said.
All the sentences can be appealed before the Supreme Court, it added.
On Saturday, Iran executed Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini for killing a paramilitary force member in November in Karaj west of Tehran.
“Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini, principle perpetrators of the crime that led to the unjust martyrdom of Ruhollah Ajamian were hanged this morning,” the judiciary said in a statement carried by the official IRNA news agency.
Two other men, Mohsen Shekari and Majidreza Rahnavard, were put to death in December after being convicted of separate attacks on security forces.
The executions have sparked global outrage and new Western sanctions against Tehran.
The European Union’s top diplomat on Saturday condemned the executions and called on Iran to immediately stop carrying out death sentences against protestors, and annul existing sentences.
“This is yet another sign of the Iranian authorities’ violent repression of civilian demonstrations,” Josep Borrell said in a statement.
The US special envoy to Iran, Robert Malley, also condemned the executions, saying they followed “sham trials.” “These executions must stop,” Malley said on Twitter.
British Foreign Minister James Cleverly on Saturday condemned the executions and urged Iran to “immediately end the violence against its own people.”
The French foreign ministry called the executions “revolting” and urged Iranian authorities to heed the “legitimate aspirations of the Iranian people.”
The Dutch government said it would summon Iran’s ambassador to the Netherlands for the second time in a month to raise its concerns over the execution of demonstrators, and urged other EU countries to do the same.
Iran was ousted from a United Nations women’s group on Wednesday for policies contrary to the rights of women and girls, a move proposed by the United States after Tehran’s crackdown on protests over the death of a young woman in custody.
The 54-member UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) adopted a US-drafted resolution to “remove with immediate effect the Islamic Republic of Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) for the remainder of its 2022-2026 term.”
There were 29 votes in favor, eight against including Russia and China and there were 16 abstentions. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
