Comment An Iranian court has sentenced an anti-government protester to death for the first time since the alleged police killing of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September sparked the largest major protests against Iran’s cleric-led security state. Protesters are calling for a change in Iran’s leadership and an end to decades of gender discrimination and state impunity. Iranian authorities met the protests with violence and demanded harsh punishments for those who participated. Iran’s revolutionary court handed down the death sentence on Sunday, according to Mizan, the country’s judiciary news website. The protester was accused of setting fire to a government building and accused of “war against God” and “corruption on earth”, as well as acting against national security. A separate section of Iran’s revolutionary court sentenced five other unnamed defendants to up to 10 years in prison for violating national security and disturbing public order, according to Mizan. Decisions can be appealed. Experts explain exactly what Iran’s morality police are doing and why women are risking their lives on the front lines to fight against them. (Video: Julie Yoon/The Washington Post) There is little expectation of fair trials for detained protesters, bystanders and chroniclers of the uprising. Iran’s judicial system is stacked against the accused and dominated by the country’s security services. Human rights groups warn that these are sham trials, where detainees are often coerced or tortured into giving false confessions based on fabricated evidence. Protesters arrested in Iran face a judicial system stacked against them More than 15,000 Iranians have been arrested and several hundred killed in nearly two months of anti-government protests, the activist news agency Hrana estimates. Iranian authorities, who claim Amini died of pre-existing medical conditions, have characterized the protests as riots instigated by third countries to destabilize Iran. Some protesters face charges that could carry the death penalty. They include Toomaj Salehi, a rapper who was arrested after joining the protests and releasing music supporting their cause, and Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi, the two female Iranian journalists who helped break the Amini story. Authorities accused the couple, without evidence, of being CIA agents. They have been held in Tehran’s Evin prison complex – notorious for alleged widespread human rights abuses – since late September. The family of another prominent prisoner, activist Hossein Ronagi, said on Sunday that his life was in danger after he was transferred to a hospital in Evin prison and they lost contact with him. Ronaghi is on hunger strike to protest his arrest on September 24. Ronaghi’s family said he suffers from a kidney condition and both of his legs were broken while in prison. First, Iran came for a rights activist. Then for his family and friends. When death sentences are issued for political prisoners in Iran, they are not always carried out and can sometimes be commuted. But the threat of death is real: In 2021, Iran executed at least 314 people, according to Amnesty International — the second highest known number of executions after China. The actual number is probably higher. Sunday’s sentence is the first known one linked to this year’s protests. Experts associated with the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) called on Iranian authorities last week to “stop using the death penalty as a tool to quell protests” and “immediately release all protesters”. In their statement, the experts said they feared Iranian authorities would target “women and girls, who have been at the forefront of protests, and in particular women human rights defenders, who have been arrested and imprisoned for demanding an end to systemic and systemic discrimination . laws, policies and practices”. Iran accuses female journalists who helped break Amini’s story of being CIA spies Other countries have tried to pressure Tehran to stop targeting protesters, with more than 40 countries backing Germany and Iceland’s proposal to hold a special HRC meeting on human rights in Iran. On Monday, the European Union and Britain announced further sanctions against Iranian officials and entities involved in the crackdown on protesters. British Foreign Secretary James Cleverley said in a statement that the sanctions send “a clear message to the Iranian regime” that “the violent crackdown on protests must stop and freedom of expression must be respected.” On Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron met with four female Iranian dissidents and told them he respected and admired “the revolution they are leading.” Iran’s foreign ministry criticized the move, calling it “a flagrant violation of France’s international responsibilities in the fight against terrorism and violence.”
