The Courage of Iran's Protestors & their Peril

 

A couple of days ago I heard out of the corner of my ear (yes, my ears are rectangular) that the Iranian government was going to execute some of the brave people who have been protesting the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini two months ago. 

Amini was arrested by the immoral Morality Police for wearing her hijab head covering incorrectly and died from the beatings she received. The subsequent draconian punishment for genuine moral outrage is not surprising given that Iran has a tyrannical regime masquerading as a theocracy.  Muslims around the world are appalled at this distortion of their Islamic religion but this is the reality of Iran under the ayatollahs. 

Then I read that the Iranian parliament had voted overwhelmingly to execute all 15,000 of the people  who have been arrested and imprisoned for protesting. It is a horrific legislative decision to engage in mass murder, and even more disgusting because Allah, God, has been invoked as the reason to do so. 

It turns out that this report is false, at least in terms of the slaughter of so many thousands of protestors.Shayan Sardarizadeh, a BBC reporter, was one of the first to name the inaccuracy of the report but he also points out that this is a violent and repressive regime. I've included a series of his tweets below to describe what has been happening.

                     Protest in Iran involving tens of thousands on the way to Mahsa Amini's grave 

This is truly an evil regime, the antithesis of godly in any true expression of religion. We know that Iran is aiding and abetting the Russians in their genocidal war in Ukraine. They have arrested Canadians on false pretexts and shot down a passenger jet with international passengers, including Canadian citizens.

 I hope that the governments of other nations, including those in the Middle East, will speak out in the strongest possible terms of condemnation for what is being proposed. 

Rights groups estimate 344 protesters, including 52 children, have so far been killed and 15,820 arrested by the Iranian regime.

The regime is well-known for beating up and torturing protesters and political activists in its notorious prisons. 

There have been calls by 227 Iranian MPs and some hardline groups inside Iran for tough sentences for protesters, including the potential use of the death penalty. The first death sentence for a protester was handed out two days ago.

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Kian Sharifi

@KianSharifi

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Nov 13

One of the six men on trial for taking part in protests in Iran has been convicted of "moharebeh" and sentenced to death, the judiciary has announced. The unnamed individual is the first person to be given the death penalty since protests started in September. twitter.com/KianSharifi/st…

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Shayan Sardarizadeh

@Shayan86

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Nov 15

The regime is also well-known for holding sham trials and handing out lenghty prison sentences to activists and protesters, and is widely expected to do the same again. 1,019 protesters have so far been formally charged by the regime. Most have not been charged or tried yet.

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Shayan Sardarizadeh

@Shayan86

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Nov 15