The NGO Human Right Watch (HRW) has charged that Iran’s authorities have intensified their attacks on dissent and widespread protests through «dubious national security charges» against detained activists and «grossly unfair» trials.
As far as the organization has learned, the head of the judiciary in Tehran province has reportedly issued around 1,000 charges against those arrested in connection with the protests over the death of Masha Amini.
Among these is one dated October 29, in which the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps accused two journalists of participating in an alleged training course run by US intelligence-backed entities.
These journalists, Niloufar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohamadi, had initially reported on the death of Masha Amini in police custody.
«Iran’s ruthless security apparatus is using every tactic at its disposal, including lethal force against protesters, arrest and slander of human rights defenders,» said the NGO’s Iran researcher, Tara Sepehri Far.
«However, each new atrocity only reinforces why Iranians are demanding fundamental changes from a corrupt autocracy,» she added.
Still, an informal network of activists inside Iran, known as the Volunteer Committee for Monitoring the Situation of Detainees, has detailed that as of Oct. 30 — in addition to the mass arrests of protesters — intelligence agencies had reportedly arrested 130 human rights defenders, 38 women’s rights advocates, 36 political activists, 19 lawyers and 38 journalists.
According to the group, the authorities have also arrested 308 university students and 44 minors.
Since Sept. 16, protests have spread to at least 133 cities and 129 universities, as well as several high schools, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).
«The international community should be particularly attentive to the situation of those detained and those at risk of the death penalty,» Sepehri Far urged.
«Demanding the unconditional release and an end to sham trials of all those who have been arrested for peaceful dissent should be a key priority,» he added.
