Dozens of Iran protesters risk death penalty

PARIS: At least 100 Iranians arrested in more than 100 days of nationwide protests face charges punishable by death, Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR) said on Tuesday.

Protests have gripped Iran since the September 16 death in custody of Iranian-Kurdish Mahsa Amini, 22, after her arrest in Tehran for an alleged breach of the country´s strict dress code for women.

Earlier this month, Iran executed two men in connection with the protests, an escalation of the authorities´ crackdown that activists say is meant to instill public fear.

In a report on Tuesday, IHR identified 100 detainees who face potential capital punishment, including at least 11 already sentenced to death.

Five detainees on the IHR list are women.

The report said many of them have limited access to legal representation.

“By issuing death sentences and executing some of them, they (the authorities) want to make people go home,” said IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam.

“It has some effect,” he told AFP, but “what we´ve observed in general is more anger against the authorities.”

“Their strategy of spreading fear through executions has failed.” In an updated death toll issued on Tuesday, IHR said 476 protesters have been killed so far.

Iran´s top security body in early December gave a toll of more than 200 people killed, including security officers.

At least 14,000 people have been arrested since the nationwide unrest began, the United Nations said last month.

Majidreza Rahnavard, 23, was hanged in public from a crane on December 12 after being sentenced by a court in Mashhad for killing two members of the security forces with a knife.