Iran: Supreme Court Upholds Death Sentence Against Protesters
Published by Ali on June 25, 2020
International Liberty Association: Iran’s Supreme Court has upheld the death sentences against three young men arrested during the November 2019 protests. Amirhossein Moradi, Mohammad Rajabi and Saeed Tamjidi were sentenced to death after Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran convicted them of several charges including “enmity against God” (moharebeh).
On 18 February 2020, Iran’s judiciary spokesperson accused them of being “riot leaders” who had “set fire to banks and petrol stations during the nationwide protests and had filmed their acts and sent the videos to foreign media”. They were also sentenced to between 11 and 16 years in prison and flogging on charges including “armed robbery”, which were related to separate incidents.
According to Amnesty International the trial of the three men, which took place on 5-6 January 2020, was grossly unfair.
Security forces identified and arrested 25-year-old Amirhossein Moradi from CCTV footage during the November 2019 protests.
He was held for a week in a ministry of intelligence detention centre in Tehran before being transferred to Tehran’s Evin prison for a month.
He was subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, including through beatings, electric shock treatment and an interrogator standing on his chest.
He has said he only “confessed” after his interrogators promised to provide him with medical treatment for the injuries he sustained, which they later refused.
He was also tortured and coerced to appear on the state-run television to “confess” against himself. The televised confession was used as evidence to convict them.
Mohammad Rajabi, 25, and Saeed Tamjidi, 27, were arrested on 28 December 2019 and held initially in a ministry of intelligence detention centre in Tehran.
They have also said they were subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, including through being kicked, beaten with batons and hung upside down while repeatedly beaten on their legs and feet.
All the three men were denied access to a lawyer during the investigation phase of their case.
ILA: Another defendant in the case, Mojgan Eskandari, has been sentenced to life on similar charges while a fifth defendant whose full name has not been disclosed is awaiting trial.
