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Five sentenced to death in Iran

News Desk || risingbd.com

Published: 08:54, 7 December 2022  
Five sentenced to death in Iran

Authorities in Iran have sentenced five people to death for allegedly killing a member of a paramilitary force affiliated with the country’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), state media reported, while 11 others received lengthy prison sentences.

The 16 unidentified defendants – 13 men and three minors – were charged with killing Ruhollah Ajamian, a member of the Basij, a paramilitary volunteer branch of the IRGC, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported on Tuesday.

The killing reportedly took place in Karaj, near Tehran, in November when a group of men chased and attacked Ajamian with knives and stones, according to IRNA. The report referred to “rioters”, a term commonly used by the government for protesters and anti-government demonstrators gathering in the area at the time.

Prosecutors said Ajamian, 27, was stripped naked and killed by a group of mourners who had been paying tribute to a slain protester, Hadis Najafi.

Najafi was killed on September 21, five days into the wave of protests that erupted across Iran after the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was detained for allegedly violating Iran’s strict dress code.

The five sentenced to death on Monday were charged by the Revolutionary Court, along with eight others. Three boys were charged by the Criminal Court, according to IRNA. Judiciary spokesman Masoud Setayeshi, who was cited in the report, provided no evidence to support the accusations.

The sentences, which IRNA reported can be appealed, come as Iran has been rocked by months of anti-government demonstrations that have been violently suppressed by security forces. The protests, now entering their third month, have since escalated into calls for the downfall of the regime and ruling clerics._Al Jazeera

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