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re: IRAN Releases Tens of Thousands of Anti-Govt Prisoners
Iran Protests: Tehran Court Sentences First Person to Death Over Unrest
A court in Iran has issued the first death sentence to a person arrested for taking part in the protests that have engulfed the country, state media say.
Iran Sentences Two LGBT Activists to Death Two LGBT activists have been sentenced to death in Iran, rights groups say.
PLUS Iran Executes 2 Gay Men Over Sodomy Charges
BBC News 14 NOV 2022.
A Revolutionary Court in Tehran found the defendant, who was not named, had set fire to a government facility and was guilty of "enmity against God".
Another court jailed five people for between five to 10 years on national security and public order charges.
A human rights group warned authorities might be planning "hasty executions".
At least 20 people are currently facing charges punishable by death, Norway-based Iran Human Rights said, citing official reports.
Its director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, called on the international community to take urgent action and "strongly warn the Islamic Republic of the consequences of executing protesters".
Media caption,
Watch: The protests currently sweeping the country have their roots in changes made after the 1979 revolution
Protests against Iran's clerical establishment erupted two months ago after the death in custody of a young woman detained by morality police for allegedly breaking the strict hijab rules.
They are reported to have spread to 140 cities and towns and evolved into the most significant challenge to the Islamic Republic in over a decade.
At least 326 protesters, including 43 children and 25 women, have been killed in a violent crackdown by security forces, according to Iran Human Rights.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), which is also based outside the country, has put the death toll at 339 and said another 15,300 protesters have detained. It has also reported the deaths of 39 security personnel.
Iran's leaders have portrayed the protests as "riots" instigated by the country's foreign enemies.
Last week, judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei declared that "key perpetrators" should be identified as soon as possible and handed sentences that would have a deterrent effect on others.
He warned that "rioters" could be charged with "moharebeh" (enmity against God), "efsad fil-arz" (corruption on Earth) and "baghy" (armed rebellion) - all of which can carry the death penalty in Iran's Sharia-based legal system.
Those possessing and using a weapon or firearm, disrupting national security, or killing someone could receive "qisas" (retaliation in kind), he said, apparently responding to a call for retributive justice from 272 of the 290 members of Iran's parliament.
More than 2,000 people have already been charged with participating in the "recent riots", according to judiciary figures.
On Sunday, local media cited judiciary officials as saying that 164 had been charged in the southern province of Hormozgan, another 276 in the central province of Markazi, and 316 in neighbouring Isfahan province.
---Iran has also threatened journalists in UK,
Iran Sentences Two LGBT Activists to Death
BBC News 14 NOV 2022.
Two LGBT activists have been sentenced to death in Iran, rights groups say.
A court in Urmia found Zahra Seddiqi Hamedani, 31, and Elham Choubdar, 24, guilty of "corruption on Earth".
The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights reported that they were accused of promoting homosexuality, promoting Christianity and communicating with media opposed to the Islamic Republic.
Iran's judiciary later confirmed the sentences, but said they were connected to human trafficking and not activism.
"Contrary to the news published in cyberspace and the rumours that have been spread, these two individuals have been accused of deceiving women and young girls and trafficking them to one of the countries of the region," the judiciary's news outlet Mizan reported.
Norway-registered Hengaw said Seddiqi Hamedani, also known as Sareh, was from the predominantly Kurdish town of Naqadeh in West Azerbaijan province, which borders both Turkey and Iraq.
Amnesty International previously described her as a "gender non-conforming human rights defender" who it said had been detained "solely in connection with her real or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity as well as her social media posts and statements in defence of [LGBT] rights".
It reported that she was arrested in October 2021 by the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) while attempting to cross into Turkey to seek asylum.
It cited her as saying that she was forcibly disappeared for 53 days, during which an IRGC agent allegedly subjected her to "intense interrogations accompanied by verbal abuse" and "threatened to execute or otherwise harm her and take away the custody of her two young children".
This January, Seddiqi Hamedani was brought before a prosecutor in Urmia, the largest city in West Azerbaijan, and told that she was accused of "spreading corruption on Earth", including through promoting homosexuality, communicating with hostile media and promoting Christianity, according to Amnesty.
The group said the first two accusations stemmed from her public defence of LGBT rights on social media and her appearance in a May 2021 BBC documentary about abuses that LGBT people were suffering in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region, where she had been living.
Under Iranian law, same-sex sexual conduct is a criminal offence, with punishments ranging from flogging to the death penalty.
The accusation of promoting Christianity was for wearing a cross necklace and attending a house church in Iran several years ago, Amnesty added.
Citizens who are not recognised as Christians, Zoroastrians, or Jews may not engage in public religious expression in Iran.
Before she attempted to leave Iran, Seddiqi Hamedani recorded a video in which she said: "I want you to know how much pressure we LGBT people endure. We risk our lives for our emotions, but we will find our true selves... I hope the day will come when we can all live in freedom in our country."
"I am journeying toward freedom now... If I don't make it, I will have given my life for this cause."
Hengaw provided no details about Elham Choubdar other than saying that she was from Urmia.
The Germany-based Iranian Lesbian and Transgender Network (6-Rang) also confirmed the death sentences for the two activists and called on foreign government to put pressure on Iran to release them.
"This is the first time that a woman has been sentenced to death in Iran for her sexual orientation," spokeswoman Shadi Amin told AFP news agency.
Iran Executes 2 Gay Men Over Sodomy Charges
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