revolutionary court
Iran announces first execution of protester
A woman’s hand, painted red, rises between placards during a demonstration. photo
© Onur Dogman/SOPA/ZUMA/dpa
According to the state media, the first person has been executed after the mass protests in Iran – for “waging war against God”.
According to the state news agency IRNA, a demonstrator has been executed in Iran for the first time since the mass protests began almost three months ago.
The man was arrested in Tehran at the end of September, the agency reported. A revolutionary court in the capital Tehran convicted him of “waging war against God” in accordance with Islamic legal opinion. Accordingly, he was charged with attacking a security guard with a weapon and spreading terror.
In recent weeks, several death sentences have been imposed on demonstrators in Iran. The judiciary has announced a tough course in the face of the protests. In parliament, too, members of parliament called for harsh sentences, up to the death penalty, for the thousands of detained protesters. Human rights activists estimate that at least 470 demonstrators have been killed and more than 18,000 arrested since mid-September.
The trigger for the nationwide protests was the death of the Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini. She died in police custody on September 16 after being arrested by the Morality Police for breaking the Islamic dress code.