Rights group says dozens of Iran protesters at risk for death penalty

At least 100 Iranians arrested during recent nationwide protests face charges punishable by death, Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR) says.

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 today, IHR identifies 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 says many of them have limited access to legal representation.

“By issuing death sentences and executing some of them, [the authorities] want to make people go home,” says IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam.

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

“Their strategy of spreading fear through executions has failed.”