11 protesters were sentenced to death in Iran. The first of them was executed on Thursday morning.
The massive popular uprising continues in Iran, but with very high levels of violence, the Iranian regime is taking more and more control of Iranian cities.
Several hundred protesters, including dozens of children, have been killed since then The demonstrations began in September. Thousands have been arrested.
At the same time, in the face of the regime’s violence, some of the demonstrators’ resistance methods changed. Many are now attacking regime forces:
Police stations have been burned and dozens of police and security personnel have been killed. There were weekly reports of the killing of members of the Revolutionary Guards or soldiers of the pro-regime Basij militia in clashes with demonstrators.
Resistance, however, has consequences.
Thursday morning reports AP That protester Mohsen Shakari was executed, after he blocked a street during the demonstrations in Tehran, as well as wounding an Iranian security guard with a machete.
The Iranian Supreme Court justified the punishment by saying that the actions of the convict are “war against God,” according to the news agency.
Sentenced to death
The execution is special because it is the first death sentence ever carried out against a protester in Iran. Now more risk the same fate.
On Wednesday, it was announced that death sentences had been issued against five people in the country, following an incident that occurred in the city of Karaj, west of the capital, Tehran, on November 3.
The ruling alleges that a group of protesters attacked and killed a member of the feared Basij militia with knives and stones during a demonstration in the city.
On that day, many protesters took to the streets to celebrate 40 days since the murder Al-Hadas Al-Najafi, 22 years old. She was an activist protester and was shot by security forces in September.
In a statement issued by a spokesperson for the Iranian judiciary, it also appears that 11 others have been sentenced to long prison terms following the incident. Among the convicts there will be several minors.
The list could be longer
So far, 26 protesters have been charged with capital offenses since September.
By Tuesday, six of them had already been sentenced to death. Now five more have been convicted.
Amnesty International strongly criticizes the criminal proceedings now being carried out against protesters in Iran.
– This is not a fair settlement of criminal acts, but a political move to intimidate and silence protesters, says Amnesty International Norway’s political advisor, Gerald Folkvord, to VG.
So far this year, according to the Iranian Human Rights Organization, 500 people have been executed in the country. That number is double what it was for the entirety of last year, NTB writes.
We have seen a significant increase in the number of executions in Iran this year even before the protests began. After China, Iran is the most executed country in the world. They also execute people every year for things they did as children, which is strictly prohibited under international law, Folkford says.
Strikes across the country
To keep the anti-regime demonstrations alive, Iranian activists this week called for a new wave of protests, which were supposed to last three days.
He urged the citizens of the country to refrain from shopping in shops to prevent the circulation of money in the banking system. The aim is to harm the country’s economy and pressure the Shiite mullahs’ regime to make more concessions.
Photos from Iran on social media this week show many shops closed as a result of the strike.
Correction: When the article was published, it contained an image showing grieving protesters in Iraq, not Iran. The photo was removed on 08.17
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