400 Protesters Jailed over Tehran Protests

Iranian women protest in New York against executions in their home country. AFP
Iranian women protest in New York against executions in their home country. AFP
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400 Protesters Jailed over Tehran Protests

Iranian women protest in New York against executions in their home country. AFP
Iranian women protest in New York against executions in their home country. AFP

Courts in Tehran have sentenced 400 people to jail terms of up to 10 years over their involvement in protests sparked by Mahsa Amini's death, AFP quoted Iran's judiciary as saying Tuesday.

Iran has been gripped by nearly three months of protests -- which officials describe as "riots" -- since the death of Amini after her arrest for an alleged breach of the country's dress code for women.

"In hearings on cases of rioters in Tehran province, 160 people were sentenced to between five and 10 years in prison, 80 people to two to five years and 160 people of up to two years," Tehran's judiciary chief Ali Alghasi-Mehr said, quoted by the judiciary's Mizan Online website.

Tehran has drawn widespread international condemnation after executing two men in the past week in connection with the unrest.

Majidreza Rahnavard and Mohsen Shekari, both 23, were hanged on Monday and Thursday respectively on the charges of "moharebeh.”

Prior to the two executions, Iran's judiciary said it had issued death sentences to 11 people over the protests, but campaigners say around a dozen others face charges that could see them also receive the death penalty.

Since September 16 when the protests broke out, thousands of people have been arrested. Iran's top security body said on December 3 that more than 200 people had been killed in the unrest.



France Plans to Take Iran to Int’l Court over Citizen Detentions

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (R) during a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Ministers of Foreign Affairs meeting in Brussels, Belgium, 03 April 2025.  EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (R) during a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Ministers of Foreign Affairs meeting in Brussels, Belgium, 03 April 2025. EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET
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France Plans to Take Iran to Int’l Court over Citizen Detentions

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (R) during a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Ministers of Foreign Affairs meeting in Brussels, Belgium, 03 April 2025.  EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (R) during a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Ministers of Foreign Affairs meeting in Brussels, Belgium, 03 April 2025. EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET

Two French citizens held in Iran for almost three years have not had consular services for more than a year prompting Paris to prepare a complaint at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), France's foreign ministry said on Thursday.
Cecile Kohler and her partner Jacques Paris have been held since May 2022. Iranian state television aired a video later that year with them appearing to confess to acting on behalf of French intelligence services, something categorically denied by Paris.
Held in Tehran's Evin prison, France has accused Iran of keeping them in conditions akin to torture.
French officials have toughened their language towards Iran, notably over the advancement of its nuclear program and regional activities, but also the detention of European citizens in the country.
Speaking after a rare cabinet meeting to broadly discuss Iran on Wednesday, France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot indicated Paris would soon take the matter of violating the right to consular protection to the ICJ.
"We are putting together a complaint that we will file at the ICJ," Foreign ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine told reporters at a news conference on Thursday, adding that the Kohler and Paris were being held in "shocking" conditions.
According to Reuters, Lemoine declined to say when it would be filed and acknowledged that procedures at the ICJ were long, but insisted that Tehran needed to be called out on the issue because the embassy and consulate had not had access to their citizens for more than a year.
"It's in violation of Iran's obligations," he said, citing the Vienna convention on consular relations.
In recent years, Iran's Revolutionary Guards have arrested dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, mostly on charges related to espionage and security.
Rights groups have accused Iran of trying to extract concessions from other countries through such arrests.
Iran, which does not recognize dual nationality, denies taking prisoners to gain diplomatic leverage.