Shabtabnews In this dark night, I have lost my way – Arise from a corner, oh you the star of guidance.

Amnesty – The Iranian authorities must immediately quash the unjust convictions and death sentences of three young protesters who were subjected to gruesome torture including floggings, electric shocks, being hung upside down and death threats at gunpoint, Amnesty International said today. The organization learned that Revolutionary Guards agents raped one of them and sexually tortured another by placing ice on …

Iranwire – Iran’s leading Sunni cleric has spoken against the Islamic Republic’s extensive use of capital punishment, saying that the Iranian people are “against the death penalty.” “The Iranian nation condemns executions and doesn’t want executions anywhere in Iran or in the world,” Molavi Abdolhamid said in his Friday prayer sermon on January 27, amid a bloody crackdown by the …

Al-Arabia – Iran appointed a new police chief for Tehran on Friday following an armed attack on the Azerbaijani embassy in the capital, though it was unclear if the appointment was influenced by the attack. Abbas-Ali Mohammadian has been named as the new police commander of Tehran, replacing Hossein Rahimi, who will now head a police department tasked with countering “economic crimes,” …

RFL/RE – A gathering of the families of drug-related prisoners sentenced to death in Iran has turned violent as law enforcement and security officers tried to break up the demonstration in front of the Ghezel Hesar prison near the capital, Tehran. The U.S.-based activist group HRANA reported that the families, holding placards with the slogan “No To Execution,” demanded a reduction in …

RFL/RE – Iranian political activist Arash Sadeghi, who is already in prison serving a 19-year sentence despite being diagnosed with cancer, has been handed another sentence of more than five years for his participation in protests over the death of a young woman in police custody. Ramin Safarnia, Sadeghi’s lawyer, said on Twitter on January 25 that his client was also banned from living …