Iran | Amnesty: At least 21 people are seeking the death penalty in Iran for protests

At least The death penalty is being sought for 21 people in Iran for crimes related to the autumn protests, says the human rights organization Amnesty in its report.

Amnesty suspects that the purpose of handing out the death penalty is as a deterrent, so that people would not dare to publicly express their opinion.

Some of the charges are about causing death in connection with demonstrations, some are about lesser crimes, such as arson or participating in a riot. In many cases, the evidence is flimsy, and Amnesty suspects that some of the suspects have been tortured.

Iranian authorities, MPs and representatives of the judiciary have publicly demanded harsh punishments in an accelerated schedule. Executions have also been demanded to be public.

The UN demands Iran to refrain from attempting to suppress demonstrations by imposing the death penalty.

part of the charges is related to the violence that occurred in connection with the demonstrations.

According to the UN, at least 304 protesters have died in the protests. At least 41 members of the security forces have died.

It is known that no representative of the security forces has been charged with killing the demonstrators, but at least a dozen people have been charged with the incidents that led to the death of the security forces.

On Saturday, Iran announced the indictment of 11 people for crimes that led to the November 3rd death of a man from the Basij paramilitary force in the city of Karaj near Tehran. He told about it, among other things news agency Reuters.

Amnesty the published charge descriptions paint a picture of haphazard administration of justice.

In several cases, charges that allow for the death penalty have been brought for non-violent crimes. In some cases, the evidence is worthless, for example, videos of general mayhem found on the accused’s cell phone.

One of the accused allegedly tore off highway guardrails and set garbage cans on fire. According to the defense, he does not appear in the videos presented as evidence.

A 22-year-old man also faces the death penalty, who was arrested at the end of September. He is accused of murder and attempted murder. According to the charges, one police officer was killed and five were injured when the accused drove a car over motorcycle police officers.

According to Amnesty, there are strong reasons to suspect that Ghobadlou has been tortured in prison in order to obtain a confession. He has not been allowed to use a lawyer during the preliminary investigation, and the evidence of his guilt is inconclusive.

A well-known Kurdish rapper Same Seydi has received the death penalty on charges of firing a handgun into the air. His whereabouts were not disclosed to his relatives, and he was not allowed to choose his lawyer.

Iran announced the first death sentence related to the protests on Sunday. It was said that the person convicted was the man who had set the government building on fire. The name of the person sentenced to death was not revealed.

Iran has signed an agreement according to which the death penalty is possible only for the most serious crimes, where the death of a person is intentionally caused.

Human rights organization Hrana said on Wednesday of three death sentences.

Demonstrations started in Iran at the end of September after the 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died after being arrested by the so-called chastity police for violating the dress code in the capital, Tehran.

Iran has arrested around 14,000 protesters, and various charges have been brought against at least a thousand.

Last week there were rumors of even thousands of death sentences. Even the Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau tweeted a false claim that up to 15,000 protesters had been sentenced to death. That is not true, although Amnesty’s list of 21 accusations is not necessarily complete.