Iran sentences three protesters to death: Report

Iran has sentenced three citizens, arrested during last November’s anti-government protests, to death, according to a report.

Protests broke out across Iran last November after the government introduced gasoline rationing and price hikes.

At least 8,600 Iranians were arrested during the protests, according to an investigation carried out by exile-run broadcaster Radio Farda.

Amirhossein Moradi, Saeed Tamjidi and Mohammad Rajabi were sentenced to death on charges of “cooperating in vandalism and arson with an intent to act against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the Iranian Human Rights Activists’ News Agency (HRANA) reported.

The three detainees were forced to confess under torture, HRANA said citing sources.

An interrogator stood on Moradi’s chest during an interrogation session causing injury to his ribs, HRANA quoted a source close to Moradi’s family as saying.

Tamjidi and Rajabi also told their families that most of the accusations against them are false and that they were forced to confess under torture, HRANA quoted another source as saying.

“We were tired of the injustice in the country and we went to the street to protest that,” they told their families, according to the source.

Forced confession are highly common in Iranian prisons. A recent BBC report recounting the torture endured by environmental activist Niloufar Bayani sparked a public outcry on social media.

The fate of thousands of Iranian protesters arrested since last November remains unknown, with their relatives fearing they are dead as they have not received any information from authorities.

Iranian authorities have not yet released an official death toll nor confirmed the number of detainees three months later.