Iran issues second death sentence over anti-government protests

TEHRAN, Iran — An Iranian court has issued a second death sentence in three days against a “rioter” for violence linked to protests that flared over Mahsa Amini’s death, the judiciary said.

“A revolutionary court sentenced to death another defendant accused of terrorizing people in the street using a bladed weapon, setting fire to the motorcycle of a citizen, and attacking a person with a knife,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said late Tuesday.

“The accused is an enemy of God for using bladed weapons that caused terror,” it reported.

Iran on Sunday handed down the first death sentence over the protests that erupted on September 16, when Amini died in custody after her arrest for an alleged breach of the Islamic republic’s dress code for women.

Among the charges issued against the first convict were “setting fire to a government building, disturbing public order, assembly and conspiracy to commit a crime against national security,” as well as for being “an enemy of God and corruption on earth,” Mizan said at the time.

Five others were sentenced to prison terms of between five to 10 years for “gathering and conspiring to commit crimes against national security and disturbing public order,” Mizan said.

The sentences have been issued in courts of first instance, meaning they can be appealed.