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Iran orders retrial of rapper, protester on death row amid anti-hijab protests
Iran Anti-Hijab Protests: Iran judiciary's Mizan Online website said that the rapper Saman Seydi and another protester, Mohammad Ghobadlou, would be retried.
Iran's supreme court ordered the retrial of two men, including a rapper, who were reportedly sentenced to death over protests sparked by Mahsa Amini's death. This comes as the country this month executed two people in connection with the protests and has sentenced another 11 people to death, AFP reported. One of them, Mahan Sadrat, won an appeal against the ruling this week.
Iran judiciary's Mizan Online website said that the rapper Saman Seydi and another protester, Mohammad Ghobadlou, would be retried.
"The supreme court has accepted the appeal of two defendants of recent riots against the verdict issued by the revolutionary court," Mizan said, referring to Seydi and Ghobadlou, AFP reported. Rights groups have said that both had been facing the death penalty based on accusations of involvement in the protests.
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However, Iran's judiciary did not specify the verdicts, but confirmed that both were charged with offences punishable by death. While Ghobadlou was charged in Tehran with "corruption on earth" for "attacking police with a car, which resulted in the death of one officer and the injury of five others", Seydi was accused of "moharebeh", which means "enmity against God".
Iran has arrested thousands of people over the anti-hijab protests in which the authorities say more than 200 people have been killed, including dozens of security personnel. Protests have gripped Iran since the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin, after her arrest in Tehran for not wearing hijab properly.
