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227 Iranian Lawmakers Urge Judiciary to Sentence Anti-Regime Protesters to Death

Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf blamed US and Israeli intelligence agencies—the Central Intelligence Agency and Mossad—for instigating unrest and aiming to topple the government.

November 7, 2022

Author

Statecraft Staff
227 Iranian Lawmakers Urge Judiciary to Sentence Anti-Regime Protesters to Death 
Photos and videos posted online showed a large number of people walking to the cemetery
IMAGE SOURCE: BBC NEWS via TWITTER

On Sunday, 227 out of 290 members of the Iranian parliament called on the Judiciary to issue death sentences to all anti-regime protesters who have been arrested.

All lawmakers who have called for the drastic measure reportedly belong to the conservative bloc. Several MPs are either former Revolutionary Guard members or closely associated with the paramilitary group.

While delivering a statement in the parliament, the MPs called the protesters mohareb, which means “enemy of God” according to Sharia law. Per Islamic law, the death penalty is the punishment for being a mohareb. “We ask the judiciary to deal decisively with the perpetrators of these crimes and with all those who assisted in the crimes and provoked rioters,” they said.

The lawmakers urged the judiciary to take legal action against “the politicians who incited the rioters,” comparing them to ISIS terrorists and accusing them of “attacking people’s lives and property.”

They also claimed that the protesters are acting at the behest of the United States and other enemies of the Islamic Republic, alleging that they have received financial support and weapons from enemies of the state.

Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, for instance, blamed US and Israeli intelligence agencies—the Central Intelligence Agency and Mossad—for instigating unrest and aiming to topple the government.

The MPs asserted that Iranian security forces have defeated forces trying to incite riots and violence within Iran, referring to the ongoing military crackdown against Kurdish groups. Iranian officials have accused the Kurdish minority of actively encouraging and supporting the protests.

Iranian security forces have arrested tens of thousands of protesters. The Judiciary has indicted thousands of inciting riots, treason, moharebeh, corruption on earth, assembly and collusion against national security, and assaulting security forces.

Protests first erupted on 16 September in the wake of the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, who was arrested three days prior by Iran’s notorious morality police for not wearing her hijab correctly.

The Guidance Patrol, also known as the morality police, is a police division in charge of enforcing the Islamic Republic’s laws against immodesty and societal vices. According to reports, Amini was brutally tortured and beaten and died while receiving treatment at an intensive care unit of the Kasra hospital in Tehran.

What initially began as protests demanding an end to mandatory hijab laws have gradually morphed into a nationwide movement calling for the end of the theocracy in Iran. Protests have spread rapidly across and galvanised school and university students, including girls, labour unions, and prisoners.

Nationwide demonstrations have continued to spread for more than 50 days. According to Iran Human Rights (IHR), at least 304 protesters, including 41 children and 29 women, have been killed in clashes with security forces. The IHR noted that protests have taken place in at least 22 provinces, with deaths recorded in 21.

The highest number of deaths have been in the Sistan and Balochistan, Mazandaran, Tehran, and Kurdistan provinces. The Sistan and Balochistan province alone saw 118 deaths, with 16 recorded deaths on Friday, the deadliest day this month.

Demonstrations in support of the protests have taken place across the world, including in the United States (US), Canada, the United Kingdom (UK), Greece, Sweden, Austria, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Iraq, Lebanon, and Turkey.

The United Nations, too, has condemned Iran’s crackdown. The UN Human Rights Commission said it is “alarmed” by Iran’s use of brutal force against protesters.

Western countries like the US, Canada, and the UK have also imposed additional sanctions on Iran. 

Human rights groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have also expressed deep concern over the violence against protesters and urged the UN to act urgently. “Failure to act decisively will only embolden the Iranian authorities to further crackdown,” Amnesty stated.

Iranian officials have claimed that its enemies are supporting the protests to overthrow the regime. President Ebrahim Raisi and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei have blamed the US and Israel for supporting the protests. Moreover, Iranian security officials have denied any role in Amini’s death, claiming she died due to a heart attack.

Author

Statecraft Staff

Editorial Team

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