400 jailed by regime over protests for Mahsa Amini

The regime has drawn widespread international condemnation after executing two men in the past week in connection with the unrest. (Reuters)
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Updated 14 December 2022
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400 jailed by regime over protests for Mahsa Amini

  • Footballer union ‘sickened’ as Iranian player risks death sentence

JEDDAH: Courts in Tehran have sentenced 400 people to jail terms of up to 10 years over their involvement in protests sparked by Mahsa Amini’s death, Iran’s judiciary said on Tuesday.

Iran has been gripped by nearly three months of protests — which officials describe as “riots” — since the death of Amini after her arrest for an alleged breach of the country’s dress code for women.

“In hearings on cases of rioters in Tehran province, 160 people were sentenced to between five and 10 years in prison, 80 people to two to five years and 160 people of up to two years,” Tehran’s judiciary chief Ali Alghasi-Mehr said.

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The regime has drawn widespread international condemnation after executing two men in the past week in connection with the unrest.

Majidreza Rahnavard and Mohsen Shekari, both 23, were hanged on Monday and Thursday respectively on the charges of “moharebeh” — or “enmity against God” under Iran’s law.

Prior to the two executions, Iran’s judiciary said it had issued death sentences to 11 people over the protests, but campaigners say around a dozen others face charges that could see them also receive the death penalty.

The world union of professional footballers FIFPRO said it was “shocked and sickened” by the risk of Iranian footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani being sentenced to death in connection with protests.

BACKGROUND

The regime has drawn widespread condemnation after executing two men in the past week in connection with the unrest.

Nasr-Azadani was arrested in the city of Isfahan two days after allegedly taking part in an “armed riot” in which three security agents were killed on Sept. 16, Isfahan’s judiciary chief Abdullah Jafari said.

“FIFPRO is shocked and sickened by reports that professional footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani faces execution in Iran after campaigning for women’s rights and basic freedom in his country,” the union tweeted on its page.

“We stand in solidarity with Amir and call for the immediate removal of his punishment,” it added.

France’s foreign minister said she would summon Iran’s charge d’affaires over the country’s role in crackdowns on protesters at home and the treatment of seven French nationals, currently in custody.

The UK announced new sanctions against Iranians and senior Russian military commanders, involved in the producing and supplying drones to target Ukraine.

Iranian-manufactured drones supplied to Russia have played a “central role” in such attacks, the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office said.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said the Tehran regime, which has been hit by a wave of civilian protests in recent months, was “striking sordid deals” with Moscow “in a desperate attempt to survive.”


Armed clashes erupt in Aleppo between Syrian army and Kurdish-led SDF

Updated 8 sec ago
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Armed clashes erupt in Aleppo between Syrian army and Kurdish-led SDF

  • One member of Internal Security Forces, another from army were injured
  • Defense Ministry accused SDF of targeting homes after they suddenly withdrew from jointly operated checkpoints, fired at government forces

LONDON: The Syrian Ministry of Defense accused the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces of launching a surprise attack on the Internal Security Forces and the Syrian Arab Army in Aleppo on Monday.

The clashes erupted in the densely populated neighborhoods of Ashrafiya and Sheikh Maqsoud, which have a Kurdish majority. The ministry reported that one member of the Internal Security Forces and another from the army were injured, along with several civil defense personnel and civilians.

The ministry denied the claims that the army initiated the conflict. It accused the SDF of targeting homes after they suddenly withdrew from jointly operated checkpoints and fired at government forces with heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade shells, and mortars.

Four civilians, including a woman and a child, were admitted to Al-Razi Hospital in the city, and two Syrian Civil Defense personnel were injured while on duty at the Shihan roundabout, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.

Fighting has spread to areas between the Shihan and Al-Larmon roundabouts, north of Aleppo, prompting dozens of families to flee their homes toward safer locations in Khalidiya and Nile Street, and closing the main Gaziantep-Aleppo highway. The civil defense accused SDF forces of shooting at one of their vehicles, which carried four members.

Azzam Al-Gharib, the governor of Aleppo, urged citizens to avoid approaching the clash sites or roads leading to the city center until further notice.

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