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Iran Hands Down Second Death Sentence Over 'Riots'

People hold up signs during a rally in support of the demonstrations in Iran at the Place de la République in Paris. (Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt/AFP/Getty Images)
People hold up signs during a rally in support of the demonstrations in Iran at the Place de la République in Paris. (Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt/AFP/Getty Images)
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Iran Hands Down Second Death Sentence Over 'Riots'

People hold up signs during a rally in support of the demonstrations in Iran at the Place de la République in Paris. (Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt/AFP/Getty Images)
People hold up signs during a rally in support of the demonstrations in Iran at the Place de la République in Paris. (Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt/AFP/Getty Images)

An Iranian court has issued a second death sentence in three days against a "rioter" for violence linked to protests that flared over Mahsa Amini's death, the judiciary said.

"A revolutionary court sentenced to death another defendant accused of terrorizing people in the street using a bladed weapon, setting fire to the motorcycle of a citizen, and attacking a person with a knife," the judiciary's Mizan Online website said late Tuesday.

"The accused is an enemy of God for using bladed weapons that caused terror," it reported.

Iran on Sunday handed down the first death sentence over the protests that erupted on September 16, when Amini died in custody after her arrest for an alleged breach of the Islamic republic's dress code for women.

Among the charges issued against the first convict were "setting fire to a government building, disturbing public order, assembly and conspiracy to commit a crime against national security," as well as for being "an enemy of God and corruption on earth", Mizan said at the time.

Five others were sentenced to prison terms of between five to 10 years for "gathering and conspiring to commit crimes against national security and disturbing public order", Mizan said.

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Taliban Say It’s Absurd to Accuse Them of Gender Discrimination

Afghan women stitch clothes at a workshop in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 04 September 2024. EPA/QUDRATULLAH RAZWAN
Afghan women stitch clothes at a workshop in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 04 September 2024. EPA/QUDRATULLAH RAZWAN
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Taliban Say It’s Absurd to Accuse Them of Gender Discrimination

Afghan women stitch clothes at a workshop in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 04 September 2024. EPA/QUDRATULLAH RAZWAN
Afghan women stitch clothes at a workshop in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 04 September 2024. EPA/QUDRATULLAH RAZWAN

The Taliban said Thursday it was absurd to accuse them of gender discrimination and other human rights violations, as four countries vow to hold Afghanistan’s rulers accountable under international law for their treatment of women and girls.
Australia, Canada, Germany and the Netherlands are set to start legal proceedings against the Taliban for violating a UN convention on women, to which Afghanistan is a party.
The countries launched the initiative on Wednesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, which is taking place in New York until Monday.
Despite promising more moderate rule after they seized power in 2021, the Taliban have barred women and girls from education beyond sixth grade, many public spaces and most jobs. In August, the Vice and Virtue Ministry issued laws banning women’s bare faces and prohibiting them from raising their voices in public.
More than 20 countries expressed their support Thursday for the proposed legal action against the Taliban.
“We condemn the gross and systematic human rights violations and abuses in Afghanistan, particularly the gender-based discrimination against women and girls," the countries said.
“Afghanistan is responsible under international law for its ongoing gross and systematic violation of numerous obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,” they added.
The countries said they did not politically recognize the Taliban as the legitimate leaders of the Afghan population.
“Afghanistan’s failure to fulfill its human rights treaty obligations is a key obstacle to normalization of relations,” they said.
The Taliban’s deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said human rights were protected in Afghanistan and that nobody faced discrimination.
“Unfortunately, an attempt is being made to spread propaganda against Afghanistan through the mouths of several fugitive (Afghan) women and misrepresent the situation,” he said on social media platform X.
The Taliban reject all criticism of their policies, especially those affecting women and girls, describing it as interference. They maintain that their actions are in line with their own interpretation of Islamic law.
Fereshta Abbasi, an Afghanistan researcher at Human Rights Watch, urged other countries to register their support for the four countries’ legal action and for them to involve Afghan women as the process moved forward.
“The announcement by Germany, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands may mark the beginning of a path to justice for the Taliban’s egregious human rights violations against Afghan women and girls,” said Abbasi.