December 6, 2022
One of the six people facing the death penalty over the current anti-government protests in Iran has reportedly been subject to "mock executions" in prison.
Sahand Noormohammadzadeh was found guilty of "enmity against god" last month over accusations of blocking traffic and setting a bin on fire and is one of those facing a death sentence.
As per a BBC Persian report citing an anonymous source Noormohammadzadeh has been subject to mock executions three times already.
Without disclosing their identities, the Iranian judiciary has announced that six protestors have so far been sentenced to death for "enmity against God" or "corruption on earth". Noormohammadzadeh was identified as one of the death row inmates by his lawyer on Saturday.
The 27-year-old as per the Iranian judiciary's Mizan news agency was on trial before a Revolutionary Court for "[acts of] vandalism and arson of public property with the aim of causing disruption to the country's peace and order and confronting the Islamic government".
As evidence the court presented a video of a masked man performing the alleged acts of vandalism; the masked man who it's been alleged is Sahand Noormohammadzadeh can be seen tearing down a railing and placing it between traffic and pushing a burning garbage bin onto the road.
However, the accused has denied all allegations, his lawyers claim that there's no evidence that the masked man on the tape is in fact him.
Reportedly the prosecution may be based on a letter of apology accepting these charges, which as per BBC could've been signed under false pretenses. As per BBC Persian's sources, the 27-year-old might've been lied to about his mother suffering a heart attack and promised one last conversation with the dying woman in lieu of signing the letter of apology.
Following the conviction of the six people on death row, Amnesty International has expressed concerns over "sham trials".
While these death sentences can be appealed as per judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei's statement from Monday the executions would happen soon.
There have been heightened concerns over torture and ill-treatment of the protesters in jail. Under international human rights law, cruel or degrading treatment of people in custody is prohibited. As per Human Rights Activists' News Agency (HRANA) since the start of the protests over Mahsa Amini's death at the hands of Iran's morality police, more than 470 protestors, including women and children have been killed, while more than 18,000 are under arrest.
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