Authority Arrests 400 People In Iran Over Protests

Courts in Iran’s capital have handed down prison terms of up to 10 years to 400 people arrested at anti-government protests.

Tehran’s prosecutor-general said a total of 160 “rioters” were sentenced to between five and 10 years, 80 to between two and five years, and 160 to two years or less.

Another 70 were fined, a local news Ali Alqasimehr added, without providing any details.

It comes a day after authorities hanged a second man convicted over the unrest.

The judiciary announced Monday morning that Majidreza Rahnavard, 23, had been executed in public in the north-eastern city of Mashhad.

Iran has been engulfed by protests against the country’s clerical establishment for almost three months.

They erupted following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was detained by morality police in Tehran on 13 September for allegedly wearing her hijab, or headscarf, “improperly”.

Authorities have portrayed the protests as foreign-backed “riots” and responded with lethal force.

So far, at least 490 protesters, including 68 children and 62 security personnel have been killed during the unrest, according to the Human Rights Activists’ News Agency (HRANA).

It has also reported the arrest of more than 18,200 people in connection with the protests, of whom 3,780 have been identified.

Authorities have not revealed how many have been arrested nationwide.

However, judiciary officials announced in early November that 1,024 people had been charged in connection with Tehran. They said the suspects were accused of “acts of sabotage”, including “assaulting or martyring security guards” and “setting fire to public property”.

Last Thursday, authorities in Theran executed a 23-year-old man convicted of enmity against God”, following what activists said was a grossly unfair trial.

Mohsen Shekari was accused of stabbing and wounding a Basij member and blocking a street in the capital in September.