Thursday , 9 May 2024

Capital Punishment Handed To Five Iranians Over Militiaman’s Death

Iranwire – The Iranian judiciary says five people have been sentenced to death for allegedly killing a member of the paramilitary Basij force during a demonstration near Tehran last month.

The Basij has had a key role in the bloody crackdown unleashed by Iranian security forces on 12 weeks of nationwide demonstrations triggered by the September death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of morality police.

More than 440 people have been killed, including dozens of children, and at least 18,000 have been detained, according to rights activists. Iranian courts have sentenced at least 11 people to death over the protests so far, triggering international condemnation.

Judiciary spokesman Masoud Setayeshi said on December 6 that 16 people were arrested over the killing of a plainclothes militiaman identified as Rouhollah Ajamian in the city of Karaj on November 3, according to the judiciary’s Mizan news agency.

Five of the accused were sentenced to death on charges of “corruption on earth” and 11 others, including three minors, were handed long-term imprisonment sentences.

The spokesman said the sentences can be appealed.

The trial was held at the Revolutionary Court of Alborz province. According to Iranian legislation, under-18s should be tried in special criminal courts for children and juveniles.

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