5 PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH PENALTY IN IRAN

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
18.11.2009 13:28 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Iran has sentenced five people to death over the
unrest that followed the country’s disputed June presidential election,
state television reported Tuesday.

At least three others caught up in the turmoil have received death
sentences previously.

Iran began a mass trial in August of prominent opposition figures
and activists, accusing them of a range of charges from rioting to
spying and plotting what authorities have called a "soft revolution"
to topple the country’s Islamic rulers.

The opposition led massive street protests and clashed with security
forces in the weeks following the disputed June 12 presidential
election. The opposition claimed fraud after election authorities
declared President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner of a second term
and their anger unleashed the most serious internal unrest in Iran
in the 30 years since the Islamic Revolution.

A Justice Department statement said the five sentenced to death were
members of "terrorist and armed opposition groups," state television
reported. The statement said the courts have sentenced a total of 89
defendants since the process began and 81 of them got prison terms
ranging from six months up to 15 years.

"So far, 89 of defendants were tried and based on their cases, death
sentences were issued for five of them," the statement said.

It said that 81 people sentenced to prison terms were charged with
a range of offenses from security violations, agitating against the
Islamic Republic, violating law and order, damaging public and private
property, and assaulting civilians and security forces, AP reported.