Tehran’s Prisoners have been Detained for a Crime allegedly Committed During Iran’s National Demonstrations

Iran’s Education Minister Yousef Nouri told a reformistIranian newspaper that some school students have been arrested and referred to “psychological institutions.”

“It is possible these students have become ‘anti-social characters’ and we want to reform them,” he told the Shargh newspaper, adding that the students “can return to class after they’ve been reformed.”

Iran has been rocked by protests since the Sept. 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died after being detained by the country’s morality police. At least 475 people have been killed in the demonstrations amid a heavy-handed security crackdown, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group that’s been monitoring the protests since they began. Over 18,000 have been detained by authorities.

In recent weeks, girls and women have protested at schools and on the street in Iran, playing a vital role in the demonstrations.

But analysts say Iran’s hard-line government that answers to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei can only maintain its grip on power by continuing to arrest — and sometimes kill — protesters. Thousands have been arrested by security forces. Compliant courts have handed down death sentences. There are fears that more executions will come, as two have been carried out.

Videos obtained by the pro-reform activist outlet IranWire posted on social media showed protesters in Tehran and other cities.

“We are extremely concerned by continuing reports of children and adolescents being killed, injured and detained amid the ongoing public unrest in Iran,” read the UNICEF statement.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran said Thursday it executed a prisoner convicted for a crime allegedly committed during the country’s ongoing nationwide protests, the first such death penalty carried out by Tehran.

They were convicted on the charge 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,” according to state news agency IRNA on Sunday.

Five other people who took part in the protests were sentenced to five to ten years in prison for conspiring to commit a crime against national security.

IRNA added that these decisions are preliminary and can be appealed. The news agency didn’t name the protester that received the death sentence or give a location for the alleged crime.

The Iran Human Rights Campaign: The Execution of a 23-year-old Kurdish woman, Majid-Reza Rahnavard, ising for Fundamental Human Rights

The group’s death toll included 43 children and 25 women and it said that the published number was an absolute minimum.

CNN cannot independently verify the figure as non-state media, the internet, and protest movements in Iran have all been suppressed. Death tolls vary by opposition groups, international rights organizations and journalists tracking the ongoing protests.

Despite the threat of arrests – and harsher punishments for those involved – Iranian celebrities and athletes have stepped forward to support the anti-government protests in recent weeks.

Iran Human Rights has called on the international community to respond strongly to the execution.

ISTANBUL — The Iranian government has executed two people since protests erupted in September, following the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, in the custody of Iran’s so-called “morality police.”

On Dec. 8, Mohsen Shekari, 23, was the first to be put to death. He was hanged after taking part in protests in Tehran. Four days later, Majid-Reza Rahnavard, also 23, was executed publicly — his body was hanged from a crane in the northeastern city of Mashhad. Like Shekari, he was convicted of “waging war against God,” a capital offense.

Shekari was hanged on Thursday morning after he was sentenced to death in October. It was the first execution connected to the protests to be publicly reported by state media.

His execution needs to be met with the best possible terms and international reactions. Otherwise, we will be facing daily executions of protesters who are protesting for their fundamental human rights,” the group’s director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam told CNN.

In a message ahead of Students’ Day on December 7 – which marks the anniversary of the murder of three university students by Iranian police under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s regime in 1953 – the reformist former leader said the government must listen to the demonstrators before it is too late.

The Iranian Sunni cleric, Soheil Jahangiri, was convicted of murdering a woman in the Squared Protest

The Iranian Sunni cleric made a suggestion on Tuesday that the judiciary investigate and prosecute people who abuse women in prisons.

The death of her made a big impact in the Islamic Republic, with prominent public figures coming out in support of the movement. There are now a variety of grievances with the authoritarian regime.

CNN investigations have found that prisoners have been tortured and sexually abused. Human rights groups say torture-tainted “confessions” have been used against the defendants in sham trials.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Praises the Basij for its Role in the Squared Protest, saying the protest movement is supported by foreign forces.

The UNHigh Commissioner for Human Rights said on November 28 that Iran was in a full-fledged human rights crisis and called for an independent investigation.

As many as 41 more protesters have received death sentences in recent months, according to statements from both Iranian officials and in Iranian media reviewed by CNN and 1500Tasvir, but the number could be much higher.

The Mizan report also alleged that Shekari said he had been offered money by an acquaintance to attack the security forces. Iran’s government for months has been trying to allege — without offering evidence — that foreign countries have fomented the unrest in the country, rather than Iranian citizens angry over the collapse of the country’s finances, heavy-handed policing and the nation’s other woes.

The Mizan news agency reported that she had been convicted in Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, which is often criticized for not allowing those on trial to choose their own lawyers or even see evidence against them.

Iranian state television aired a heavily edited version of the trial after his execution, presided over by Abolghassem Salavati.

Soheil Jahangiri is one of the Iranians to receive such a sentence. Members of his family told CNN they haven’t heard from him in over a month. They say officials did not permit Jahangiri an independent attorney.

The Iran Prisoner’s Dilemma: A Case Study of the 2011 Dec. 7 Demonstration of the Death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

A pro-government TV channel aired audio that was described as Rahnavard’s confession to police. NPR did not know the authenticity of the audio.

“Unfortunately, my own arrow hit my brother,” the recording says — seen as a reference to the Basij militia members Rahnavard was convicted of fatally stabbing.

The protesters say they are fed up after decades of political and social repression. One of the main slogans has been “Death to the dictator,” referring to Iran’s 83-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has held the country’s highest office for more than three decades.

The deputy head of Allameh University in Tehran told Iran’s Mehr news agency that some 20 students were banned from taking classes after they participated in a Dec. 7 rally.

The students are people who insist on continuing their path and do not appreciate the tolerant behavior of the university official.

The number of prisoners is much larger. At least 39 people have been considered to be at risk of receiving a death sentence and being executed if they are sentenced to death, according to rights groups.

Among those detained is actress Taraneh Alidoosti, star of The Salesman, which won the best foreign-language film Oscar in 2017. A statement from Iran’s judiciary said several celebrities including Alidoosti had been summoned for “unsubstantiated comments about recent events” and for publishing “provocative material in support of street riots.”

One of those sentenced to death is Dr. Hamid Ghareh Hassanlou, a 53-year-old radiologist. His wife was sentenced to 25 years of solitary confinement. Both were arrested during a protest.

Hassanlou was tortured and did not have access to his own lawyer, anti-regime activists say. The attorney appointed by the government reportedly mounted no defense, instead advising his client to accept the charges of crimes against God.

Iranian High-profile Footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani – A pilgrimage in the city of Tehran’s morality police

“No, no violence at all, quite the opposite,” he says. “On the personality level, very outspoken.” On something he believed, he could be as stubborn as hell.

“I’m proud of you,” he says. I’m willing to admit it. I really miss him, but at the same time, I’m so proud of him. I didn’t ask why he did it. Of course, the implication was huge for him, for his family, for all the people around him. I’m still proud of him.

There is a square called Shahid Alikhani in Isfahan. Its sole claim to prominence is the grand entrance to one of the city’s main metro stations.

But now it has become a place of pilgrimage for supporters of the high-profile Iranian footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani who fear the young man could be executed in the square, where an execution platform has been installed, a witness close to Nasr-Azadani in Iran told CNN.

Iranian families are fearful that there will be a wave of executions in the country in the next few weeks, following the death of a young woman in Tehran’s notorious morality police.

CNN has confirmed via court documents that 23 people have been indicted for crimes that can be punished with the death penalty.

Several other witness testimonies and official documents sent by families, and jointly authenticated by CNN and 1500Tasvir, paint a picture that shows how the Iranian regime is rushing the judicial process.

The document obtained by CNN shows that another man was accused of involvement in the killings of three security forces. Kazemi told others he was coerced into confessing his involvement in criminal acts during his interrogation.

According to state media, the city’s chief justice, Asadullah Jafari, said Nasr-Azadani had been charged with Baghi – or rioting against authorities. The death penalty is in Iran’s Penal Code.

Since then, a witness to his arrest said they hoped Nasr-Azadani would be freed, but nevertheless visited Shahid Alikhani square daily to see if authorities would show up with the footballer and execute him on the scaffold. “From the day he was arrested, authorities told us he would be released by the end of the week,” the witness tells CNN.

The court last week said it obtained “video and sufficient documentation that prove he [Nasr-Azadani] is part of an armed group” and that the footballer had confessed to his crimes, state media IRNA reported.

Investigating the case of Soheil, the fourth ranked astrophysical champion and alleged killer of a paramilitary in Iran

Iranian officials have defended the trials. In the last few days, an Iranian MP said that those who took part in the current unrest should be executed within 10 days after their arrest. CNN received no official response from Iranian officials to its request for comment.

“This will coincide with a time in which the international community is observing these holy days, and the Islamic Republic regime will take advantage of being removed from the watchful eyes of the world.

“The judge that was there told me to say that I do not protest (object) and gave me three pages that I signed, while they didn’t even allow me to read any of them.

“The second time they took me in for interrogation, my charges had completely changed. The second charge was called “moharabe”, and it was levied against me.

In a hastily photographed document from inside the Isfahan regional court, it is learned that at least 10 people have been charged with Moharabe, spreading corruption on Earth and other charges.

“Judiciary officials have alluded to two charges: Baghi and Moharabe. A family member said Soheil could be sentenced to death if convicted of these charges.

“We are quite frightened that, with the beginning of the Christmas holidays and a decrease in political pressure on the government, executions will begin anew, and I think that Soheil’s life and the lives of numerous political prisoners are in danger.

Last month Karami’s parents posted a video to social media begging the state to spare his life. His father said, “My son is among the karate champions of Iran and has several national titles and was the fourth ranked member on Iran’s national team … I beg of you to please lift the execution order.”

Karami was convicted on December 5, less than a week after his trial began in Tehran over the alleged killing of the paramilitary. Amnesty described the trial as bearing “no resemblance to a meaningful judicial proceeding.” His family believes he was tortured in prison and refused access to a lawyer.

The wait behind bars can be torturous for those awaiting execution. The Iranian Kurdish rapper attempted to kill himself this week while in jail.

In his last music video, Yasin rapped about inequality and oppression in Iran, singing “they closed my throat violently. They banned beauty. They reversed me like an animal. I am not satisfied with silence at all.

The release of a woman from an Oscar-winning film in Iran: “Headscarf protests are targeting a relative moderate,” says the supreme leader

“Please hear my sons’ cries for help. My sons are young and they have children awaiting their release. Please don’t let them go. Save my sons, for the love of God.

In Iran a woman is at great risk for her safety by publicly speaking out against the authorities. But it is a risk many parents feel they have no choice but to take.

The local reports say that Iran released the well-known actress from an Oscar-winning film on Wednesday, just three weeks after she was jailed.

She posed for a picture with friends after being released from the Evin Prison in Tehran. There are no further details released about her case.

One message said that they were supporting the execution of the first man on charges related to the protests because of the death of a woman in police custody.

Alidoosti was arrested on November 18 after she wrote on an account with 8 million followers that she was the man they named Mohsen Shekari. “Every international organization who is watching this bloodshed and not taking action, is a disgrace to humanity.”

Iranian officials blame the protests on the US and other countries. State-linked media reported on attacks on security forces, while the authorities cut off internet access at times due to coverage of the demonstrations.

In a meeting with women, the supreme leader said that those who don’t observe Islamic dress should not be accused of being non-religious or against the revolution.

The headscarf was often worn by Iranian women in a way that they did not want to be seen as showing their religion, especially during the time of a relative moderate who ruled from 2013 to 2021. His successor moved to tighten the restrictions.

In June 2020, she was given a suspended five-month prison sentence after she criticized the police on Twitter in 2018 for assaulting a woman who had removed her headscarf.

The Iran Crisis: Where the Soviet Union was in the Early 1980s and why the Iranian Revolution wasn’t so late in the early 1980s

She was in “The Salesman” where she played a woman who was sexually assaults by her husband. The story unfolds against the backdrop of a local staging of Arthur Miller’s classic play, “Death of a Salesman,” in which the woman and her husband are cast as the main characters.

The government took a number of harsh actions. Iranian authorities claim some 200 people have been killed, but the Norway-based group Iran Human Rights reported in late December that the death toll had reached at least 476.

Observers have recently suggested that the size and number of demonstrations are on the decline. Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, founder and CEO of the London-based Bourse & Bazaar Foundation think tank, posted a chart to Twitter that appears to show such declines. Batmanghelidj wondered why the current protesters had not generated large and long-term protests like in the Green Movement.

“There is a chance that the protests may stop on some occasions, but since the Iran crisis is large and international, there will be even more oppositions and protests during this year’s new year,” he says.

Protests have also taken place in Turkey, Europe, the US and beyond. Javad notes that the protesters in Iran are still trying to connect with the people in the diaspora who want to see the regime fall.

“If we don’t have this cooperation and come up with a plan to put pressure on the Islamic Republic and facilitate the transition from this government to a new government it’s harder for groups of people to join the movement,” he says. It will be hard for people to trust the opposition if they do not cooperate.

Ali Vaez, an analyst at the International Crisis Group, says it’s remarkable that the regime has driven young Iranians onto the streets, primarily due to its own incompetence and corruption. He sees a parallel between it and what he saw before.

“My sense is that the Islamic Republic is where the Soviet Union was in the early, not late, 1980s,” he says. “Early 1980s in the sense that it is a system that is ideologically bankrupt, economically broken, at a political dead end and simply unable to address its problems with the same cast of characters who created this deadlock to begin with.”

Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/01/06/1147376644/iran-protests-crackdown-mahsa-amini

The story of Seyed Mohammad Hosseini: a Muslim boy arrested on his way to visit his parents graves and sentenced to death

Vaez believes that the situation is in a stalemate because the protesters are still a minority voice.

“As long as the protests don’t reach critical mass, the regime is unlikely to fracture and lose its willingness to repress,” he says. “But as long as it doesn’t show any signs of losing its willingness to repress, it’s unlikely that more protesters would come to the streets.”

The lawyer for Karami posted on his website that Karami was not given final rights to speak to his family before he was put to death. The lawyer added that Karami had begun a dry food hunger strike Wednesday as a form of protest against officials for not allowing Aghasi to represent him.

Karami, 21, was an Iranian-Kurdish karate champion who sported a tattoo of the Olympic rings on the inside of his arm. His cousin told CNN that Karami was a brave, intelligent boy and got into karate at age 11. He was part of the Iranian youth national team that won the national championship.

The father said he is terrified every night that he would hear about his child’s death sentence. I don’t believe they will carry out his execution any minute, they have sentenced him to death.

“The story of #SeyedMohammadHosseini is so sad. He did not survive two of his parents. He visited their graves every Thursday. Rhie said that he coaches kids for free.

Hosseini was arrested on his way to visit his parents’ graves, according to Ye-One Rhie. His brother has not been heard from since he was taken.

According to Amnesty, Hosseini was convicted in the same hearing as Karami and two other men who were also sentenced to death, Hamid Ghare-Hasalou and Hossein Mohammadi.

State media broadcasted forced confession by the defendants before the group trial began, in violation of their right to presumption of innocence and freedom from torture and other cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment.

Meanwhile, the politics editor of independent Iranian newspaper Etemad Online, Mehdi Beyk, was detained on Thursday, according to a tweet from the publication. The arrest came amid a crackdown by Iranian authorities following the protests sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini last year after she was apprehended by the state’s morality police for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly. The protests have since coalesced around a range of grievances with the authoritarian regime.

He was arrested for interviewing families of those who have been arrested in the protests, according to IranWire.

Alidoosti, an activist who is a feminist, showed her support for the protest movement with a picture without hijab and a sign that said “Women, Life, Freedom”.

Alidoosti was not formally charged but was initially arrested for “lack of evidence for her claims” in relation to her protest against the hanging of Mohsen Shekari last month in the first known execution linked to the protests.

Mizan said the men were sentenced to death for the murder of an Iranian Revolutionary Guard member in the city of Karaj outside of Tehran. The Basij have deployed in major cities, attacking and detaining protesters, who in many cases have fought back.

The tribunals don’t allow those on trial to pick their own lawyers or even see the evidence against them. Amnesty International has said the trials “bore no resemblance to a meaningful judicial proceeding.”

What has the Iranian State TV Program Done recently about the Karami-Hosseini Attack, and why is Iran releasing protesters?

State TV also aired footage of Karami and Hosseini talking about the attack, though the broadcaster for years has aired what activists describe as coerced confessions.

The Quran says “corruption on Earth” and that the death penalty can be imposed on those who were found guilty of the killing.

“tens of thousands” of people were granted an “amnesiac or reduced sentences” by Iran’s supreme leader over the last week, according to a report.

On Shia holidays and days of recognition Iran grants mass pardons. Most of the people pardoned need medical treatment. In Iran, you can also be jailed for not paying debts, so a fair amount of those being released are debtors, Nia said.

How much of those arrested protesters will go free? Not many, said Gissou Nia, a human rights attorney who directs the Atlantic Council’s Strategic Litigation Project. Morning Edition’s Leila Fadel spoke to Nia about how the announcement really is.

Those facing charges of espionage, links to foreign intelligence services, or attacks on government or public sites didn’t have to go through the program, according to Iranian state media.

“So although it’s been reported at a time after this massive state crackdown on peaceful protests and all these people in jail, it’s not actually that significant in terms of what it means for releasing protesters,” Nia said.

“The messaging is aimed at those countries to try to show that they have the situation under control – that it’s really not as stark as it seems,” Nia said.

The other audience is in Iran. Despite the fact that a lot of Iranians get their news from satellite TV, many are still tuning in to state TV.

“And so they are getting the message that Khamenei has taken mercy on a lot of these individuals, but not getting the full facts of what is really happening,” she said.

Some of the people that are being released will be placed under house arrest. Some had to sign ‘letters of regret’ asking for forgiveness. Others will be forced to destroy their travel documentation in order to stay in the country.