Iran executes three Sunni citizens for alleged action against regime: Rights group
Iran executed on Saturday three Sunni Muslim citizens for alleged armed action against the regime and membership in opposition groups labelled as “terrorist” organizations by the regime, a rights group reported.
Hamid Rastbala, Kabir Saadat-Jahani and Mohammadali Arayesh were executed in a prison in the northwestern city of Mashhad, the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), a news site run by a collective of Iranian human rights advocates, reported.
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They were arrested in 2015 and sentenced to death in 2019 after being charged with armed action against the regime and membership in opposition groups that Tehran considers to be “terrorist,” HRANA said.
The three executed prisoners were not given notice ahead of their execution, and their families were not allowed a final visit, HRANA said.
Rastbala, Saadat-Jahani and Arayesh were not allowed to choose their lawyers while on trial and were subjected to torture in prison, HRANA reported, citing an informed source.
Sunni Muslims are a minority in predominantly Shia Iran. Sunni activists complain of discrimination and accuse the regime of deliberately neglecting the country’s Sunni-populated regions, namely the provinces of Sistan-Baluchestan and Kurdistan.
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