Arab Political Prisoners In Iran Handed Capital Punishment, Group Says

An Iranian court has sentenced six Arab political prisoners held in the southern city of Ahvaz to death, activists said on February 14, amid international condemnation of a bloody crackdown on dissent.

The Ahvaz Human Rights Organization identified the prisoners as Ali Majdam, Moein Khanfari, Mohammadreza Moghadam, Seyed Salem Mousavi, Seyed Adnan Mousavi and Habib Darees.

Six other political prisoners held in Ahvaz’s Shiban prison have received heavy prison sentences ranging from five to 35 years, it said.

These convicts includeed Fares Amouri, Jasem Al-Boghbish, Qasem Moghadam, Eskandar Moghadam, Ra’ad Maniat and Towfiq Maniat.

All the verdicts were handed down by Branch 4 of the Ahvaz Revolutionary Court on February 14. It was not immediately clear what charges the defendants were convicted of.

Officials did not comment on the sentencings, which come as the Iranian authorities are trying to whitewash the illegal arrest and prosecution of thousands of protesters with a mass "amnesty."

The authorities have cracked down on five months of protests triggered by the September death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, in the custody of morality police.

Activists say security forces have killed more than 520 people and detained over 19,000 in connection with the demonstrations. Following unlawful detentions and biased trials, the judiciary has handed down stiff sentences, including the death penalty, to protesters.