Dubai, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s revolutionary court has sentenced an anti-government protester to death and sentenced five others to prison terms, state media said Sunday.
The verdict is likely to be the first death sentence in a trial for those arrested for participating in protests demanding an end to clerical rule that have swept Iran over the past few weeks.
Protesters have been sentenced to death for setting fire to government buildings, according to news website Mizan, which has links to the Iranian judiciary. Five prison sentences ranged from five years for him to ten years for him, and were suspected of violating national security and public order.
Mizan said another branch of the Revolutionary Court had handed down the ruling, but did not give details of the protesters at trial who could appeal the decision.
The court was established after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and is known for punishing those who oppose Iran’s clerical rulers.
Iran has already issued indictments for public trials against hundreds of detained protesters.
Anti-government protests enter their eighth week, sparked by the death in custody of 22-year-old Masa Amini, who was suspected of violating the country’s strict dress code for women.
The judiciary said it had indicted hundreds of people in other Iranian provinces. Some have been accused of capital offenses, such as “corruption on earth” and “war against God.”
Security forces, including paramilitary volunteers from the Revolutionary Guard, cracked down on the demonstrations, killing more than 300 people, including dozens of children, according to Oslo-based Iran Human Rights. These security forces also said they were killed in the nationwide unrest.
Protests initially focused on ending Iran’s obligatory headscarf, or hijab, but since the chaotic years after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the ruling cleric has It turned into one of the biggest challenges.
