As international criticism of Iran’s brutal crackdown on protestors grows, the country’s Mizan news agency said on Monday that a court there has sentenced three more anti-government protesters to death on charges of “waging war on God.”
After countrywide protests on September 16 in response to the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman, the EU, the US, and other Western nations condemned the hanging of two men on Saturday in Iran for allegedly killing a security force member. One of them was a karate champion with several national titles.
Saleh Mirhashemi, Majid Kazemi, and Saeid Yaghoubi, who was guilty of allegedly killing volunteers for the Basij militia during anti-government protests in the central city of Isfahan, could, in Mizan’s view, appeal their verdicts.
The Basij forces, who are a part of the elite Revolutionary Guards, have led the state’s crackdown on protests against the state’s regressive laws.
Pope Francis condemns Iran for using the death penalty on protesters
Pope Francis on Monday condemned Iran for using the death penalty on protesters. “The right to life is also threatened in those places where the death penalty continues to be imposed, as is the case in these days in Iran, following the recent demonstrations demanding greater respect for the dignity of women,” Francis said.
The protests, one of the most brazen challenges to the clerical leadership since the 1979 revolution, have gained support from Iranians from all walks of life and called into question the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic by demanding the removal of its leaders.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, said in a televised speech on Monday that people who “set fire to public places have committed treason with no doubt”. Under Iran’s Islamic law, treason is punishable by death.
Rights activists believe that the clerical elite is trying to frighten protestors and instill enough fear in the populace to put an end to the turmoil by carrying out executions, making arrests, and giving harsh sentences to protesters.
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