Day 83 of the Iran uprising was marked by a massive rally in Azadi Square
An innocent couple, Dr. Hamid and Farzaneh Ghareh Hassanlou, were handed down a death sentence and heavy prison time in exile for participating in peaceful protests.
On Day 83 of the Iran uprising, Iranian women and men showed greater determination to topple the clerical regime and bring about regime change. Simultaneously, the mullahs are doing their best to quash the protests by issuing death sentences for the arrested protesters.
The Iranian Judiciary issued death sentences for five protesters on December 7 and sentenced another 11, including three 17-year-olds, to heavy prison sentences. The mullahs’ Judiciary has not officially announced the names of those who received death sentences.
The sixteen defendants are accused of the alleged killing of a member of the paramilitary Bassij force, Ruhollah Ajamian, in the protests during the 40-day memorial of Hadis Najafi in Karaj on November 3.
Ajamian had killed two protesters, Nima Nouri and Mehran Shekari, on the same day.
The Judiciary’s spokesman, Massoud Setayeshi, declared that the verdicts were a preventive measure meant to teach a lesson to the protesters.
The head of the mullahs’ Judiciary, Mohseni Ejei, announced on Monday, December 5, that the death sentences for some of the protesters had been upheld and would be carried out soon.
A couple, a doctor and a lab technician convicted
Dr. Hamid Ghareh Hassanlou, 53, a radiologist, was among the five sentenced to death. His wife, Farzaneh Ghareh Hassanlou, a lab technician, was sentenced to 25 years in a remote location, Ahvaz, without having any contact with anyone.
The couple did not have access to their lawyer. The lawyer appointed by the government did not defend them. Instead, he denied that Hamid had been tortured and told him to accept the charges and finish the case.
Interrogators broke four ribs of Dr. Hamid Ghareh Hassanlou under torture such that his lung was pierced. Hamid Ghareh Hassanlou had undergone surgery right before the trial.
Some social media reports indicate that he was informed of his verdict in the hospital. Others suggest he was taken to court in a hospital gown to attend the trial. He took off his clothes to show the presiding judge the scars of torture to extract false confessions.
The couple was arrested at home at 2 a.m. on November 4 before the eyes of their 10-year-old daughter. They also have a 20-year-old son.
Dr. Ghareh Hassanlou and his wife, Farzaneh, have a good reputation as a charitable family, helping the impoverished and child laborers. They also helped construct schools in southern Iran.
Nationwide protests and strikes, a massive night rally in Tehran mark Day 83
Day 83 of the Iran uprising was marked by a massive nightly rally of thousands of the people of Tehran towards Azadi (Freedom) Square. It was the climax of a three-day action on Student Day, December 7.
Iranian students held protests, sit-ins, and strikes in dozens of universities across Iran despite extensive repressive government measures.
Security forces arrested a number of student protesters in some universities, including Tehran University, Khajeh Nassir University in Tehran, and Ferdowsi University in Mashhad.
Members of Bassij and university security forces clashed with student protesters at Tehran University, Amir Kabir University in Tehran, and Ferdowsi University in Mashhad. They attacked the student protesters with batons and sticks and injured some.
The bazaars (markets) in Tehran and all major cities across the country went on strike for the third consecutive day in solid support of the Iran uprising.
University students and ordinary people held demonstrations in various districts of Tehran and dozens of cities and clashed with security forces.
The clerical regime had deployed tens of thousands of IRGC guards, Bassij members, and plainclothes agents to contain and quash the protests.
Such widespread and massive participation of Iranian people in rallies and protests despite massive repression and brutality of the state forces indicates the determination of Iranian women and men for regime change and toppling the mullahs.
The NCRI Women’s Committee calls on international human rights agencies, including the UN Human Rights Council and the Special Rapporteur on Iran, to take urgent measures to stop the unfair, illegal proceedings against peaceful protesters, including women, in Iran.
All detained protesters must be freed, and all charges against them dropped.
