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Iran: death sentences again and again…

 International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
Iranian League for the Defence of Human Rights (LDDHI)

Press release

Paris, 19 May 2010: The Tehran prosecutor announced on Saturday 15 May that the death sentences pronounced against three out of 10 post-election protesters charged with “moharebeh”(fighting god) have been upheld by the appeal court. In all, he said, 217 sentences against post-election protesters have been confirmed by the appeal courts.

Ahmad Daneshpur-Moqaddam, Mohsen Daneshpur-Moqaddam and Abdolreza Qanbari have reportedly applied for pardon after the confirmation of their death sentence in appeal. Three other death sentences pronounced against post-election protesters by the court of first instance have been overturned and replaced with prison terms: the people concerned are Motahareh Bahrami Haqiqi, Rayhaneh Hajj-Ebrahim-Dabbagh and Hadi Qaemi. Those six prisoners are charged with connections to the Mujahedin Khalq (People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran – PMOI).

Two other prisoners have been acquitted of the moharebeh charge: Arsalan Abadi and Mohammad Valian, while the appeal court has not examined yet the cases of the other two post-election protesters.

FIDH has also been informed that the death sentences pronounced against three other Mujahedin Khalq activists have also been upheld. They are Mohammad Ali Saremi, Ja’afar Kazemi and Mohammad Ali Hajji-Aqaie. The Fars News Agency reported that they have been arrested in September 2009, but FIDH has not been able to confirm that information.

“The Iranian judiciary is a tool in the hands of Ayatollah Khamenei and President Ahmadinejad to repress harshly peaceful protesters and political opponents”, declared Karim Lahidji, Vice-President of FIDH and President of LDDHI. “The nuclear deals should not make us forget the terrible human rights situation in Iran. The international community cannot wait and see but should on the contrary support independent voices in Iran, and strongly condemn the increasing number of death sentences and executions of political activists”, he concluded.

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