Iran Protests: 14 Convicts Risk Execution Following “Grossly Unfair” Trials

At least 14 individuals are at grave risk of execution in Iran in connection with the ongoing nationwide protests, following “grossly unfair” trials and acts of torture inflicted during their interrogation, Amnesty International says.

The London-based human rights watchdog said on February 6 that the authorities’ violations of the rights of those sentenced to death included the right to adequate defense and access to lawyers of their choosing, a fair, public hearing and the presumption of innocence.

Ten of the convicts were subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, including “floggings, electric shocks, death threats, rape and other forms of sexual violence,” the group said.

The authorities have used torture-tainted “confessions,” some of which were broadcast on state media prior to their trials, as evidence to issue convictions.

And some of them received capital punishment for acts that did not involve “intentional killing,” which Amnesty International said violated the Islamic Republic’s obligations under international law.

At least four young men have already been “arbitrarily” hanged and dozens of other people are being investigated for capital crimes brought in relation to the protests.

The Islamic Republic has unleashed a brutal crackdown on the anti-government protest movement that has swept Iran for more than four months, killing more than 520 people and detaining over 19,000, activists say.