Iran Issues First Death Sentence To Anti-Govt Protester After Riots, Five Others Get Jail Term

Iran Protests: The 'accused' has been sentenced to death for the crime of "setting fire to a government building, disturbing public order".

New Delhi: Iran's Revolutionary Court for the first time sentenced an anti-government protester to death, while another court announced jail terms for five others, state media reported on Sunday even as nationwide protests continue to rage in the country.

The first death sentence is linked to participation in "riots" amid protests after the death of Mahsa Amini, the judiciary's Mizan Online website said, according to the news agency AFP.

The 'accused' has been sentenced to death for the crime of "setting fire to a government building, disturbing public order, assembly and conspiracy to commit a crime against national security, and an enemy of God and corruption on earth", considered one of the most serious offences under Iranian law, Mizan Online reported.

While a separate court in Tehran sentenced five others to prison terms of between five to 10 years for "gathering and conspiring to commit crimes against national security and disturbing public order". 

The judiciary website noted that all those convicted can appeal their sentence.

Protests across Europe and other countries erupted after Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman died in the custody of the morality police of Iran in September. She was arrested for allegedly breaching the Islamic republic’s strict dress code for women. She died three days after falling into a coma following her arrest in Tehran. The protests saw several people mostly demonstrators and security personnel dying, which the authorities have branded as "riots".

Earlier, the judiciary had charged more than 750 people in three provinces for their role in such incidents.

Almost 2,000 people are already charged, nearly half of them from Tehran, since the demonstrations began in mid-September, according to judiciary figures, the report added.

The judicial chief for the southern province of Hormozgan, Mojtaba Ghahremani, had informed 164 people had been charged "after the recent riots", Mizan Online had said earlier.

They face accusations including "incitement to killing", "harming security forces", "propaganda against the regime" and "damaging public property", the website said, adding that their trials would begin "from Thursday in the presence of their lawyers".

So far least 326 people have been killed by Iranian security forces since nationwide protests began two months ago, claimed the Norway-based Iran Human Rights NGO (IHRNGO) group, as per the CNN report.

(With Agency Inputs)