First Iranian Protester Is Sentenced to Death by Court for “Spreading Corruption on Earth”
A protester in Iran has been sentenced to death by Iran's Revolutionary Court for "spreading corruption on Earth."
According to state news agency IRNA, the person was given the sentence after setting fire to a government building. They were accused of "disturbing public order and peace, community, and colluding to commit a crime against national security, war and corruption on Earth, war through arson, and intentional destruction," the agency said Sunday, per CNN.
And at least five others who took part in the protests received sentences of five to 10 years in prison for allegedly disturbing the public peace, CNN reported.
The news comes after months of protests in the country, originally stemming from the death of Mahsa Amini in September, but ultimately fueled by the oppression citizens still face at the hands of the Islamic Republic.
Amini, 22, died at the hands of the country's morality police after being arrested for not properly wearing a hijab in public. Following her death, Iranian women took to the streets to burn their hijabs, chop off their hair, and stand up against police.
In an attempt to silence the protests, the Iranian government has shut off the Internet connection and blocked social media access across the country. Authorities have also charged at least 1,000 people in the Tehran province for their behavior and have killed at least 326 people, including 43 children and 25 women, nationwide, per Norway-based Iran Human Rights NGO.
The NGO noted that at least 20 protesters are currently facing charges punishable by death in Iran, per reports, and suggested that today's decision to carry out the death penalty may not be the last if the protests continue.
Despite the government crackdown, and ongoing arrests and killings, Iranians continue to fight back, and human rights organizations around the world continue to stand with them.
Sixteen U.N.-appointed human rights experts on Friday told Iranian authorities in a bold statement, "Stop using the death penalty as a tool to squash protests and reiterate our call to immediately release all protesters who have been arbitrarily deprived of their liberty for the sole reason of exercising their legitimate rights to freedom of opinion and expression, association and peaceful assembly and for their actions to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms through peaceful means."
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