Iran seeks to quell protests with death sentences, activists warn

PARIS: Iran, already one of the world´s most prolific users of the death penalty, is planning to use capital punishment as a means to quell the protest movement by spreading a climate of fear in the population, activists warn.

The judiciary has already confirmed six death sentences over the protests, with Amnesty International saying that based on official reports at least 21 people currently on trial are charged with crimes that could see them hanged.

Iran currently executes more people annually than any nation other than China, according to rights groups. Amnesty International says Iran put to death at least 314 people in 2021, while Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) says the number of executions this year is already much higher at 482.

Campaigners warn that not only do the authorities plan to execute protesters on vague charges linked to alleged rioting or attacks on security forces during the demonstrations, but also step up hangings not related to the protest movement, notably of prisoners convicted on drug-related charges.

Amnesty said the authorities´ pursuit of the death penalty is “designed to intimidate those participating in the popular uprising... and deter others from joining the movement”. The strategy aims to “instill fear among the public”, it added, condemning a “chilling escalation in the use of the death penalty as a tool of political repression and the systematic violation of fair trial rights in Iran”.

The Iranian judiciary has conspicuously not named the six convicts already sentenced to death in a possible bid to prevent their names becoming rallying causes or hashtags on social media. They have all been convicted either of “enmity against God” (“moharebeh”) or “corruption on earth” (“efsad-e fel arz”), sharia-related charges that are capital crimes in Iran and which rights activists have long feared are used against opponents of the regime. Amnesty has nonetheless said the nature of the charges makes it possible to deduce the names of those sentenced so far. They include Mohammed Ghobadlou, a young man whose mother has been seen on social media making an impassioned plea for her son´s life.