Iran Issues Heavy Sentences To Protesters Accused Of Killing Agent

Fourteen protestors have been jailed in Iran for up to 15 years for the death of a Basij agent in a trial branded a travesty of justice by human rights activists.

Ruhollah Ajamian was killed in Karaj, near Tehran, in November by a group of men the regime called “rioters”.

The member of the Basij militia of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) was stabbed, beaten, and stripped naked by a group of men and died of his injuries later.

The Islamic Republic has already executed Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Mohammad Hossein over Ajamian’s death.

On Tuesday in Alborz, 14 protesters were jailed in connection with the killing, with five of them receiving long-term prison terms of 10 and 15 years.

The two executions came after a hasty trial and without their right to choose a lawyer.

Jurists and human rights activists have described the trials as “unfair” and questioned the verdicts.

The judiciary of Alborz province claimed on Tuesday that the charges leading to the verdict were not "intentional murder" but "corruption of the earth" and "moharebeh", or “waging war against God”.

Among the defendants, Hamid Qarahasanlou, who was previously sentenced to death, received the longest prison term and was given 15 years in prison. He is set to serve his sentence in Yazd province in central Iran.

These are only the latest lengthy sentences to be handed down by the Iranian regime to countless protesters in the widespread demonstrations that followed the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini last September.

Protests broke out in scores of cities across Iran, with crowds demanding justice for Mahsa and calling for an end to the regime’s oppressive policies.

The brutal crackdown in response to the demonstrations and heavy sentences handed out by the courts have signaled the regime’s refusal to change and determination to silence dissent.