Iran's supreme court has ordered the retrial of a Kurdish rapper who was reportedly sentenced to death over anti-government protests, the judiciary's news agency reported on Saturday.
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 an alleged breach of the Islamic republic's dress code for women.
Iran this month executed two people in connection with the protests. It has sentenced another 11 people to death. One of them, Mahan Sedarat, secured a retrial earlier this week.
On Saturday, the judiciary's Mizan Online website said the Kurdish rapper Saman Seydi, also known as Saman Yasin, and another protester, Mohammad Ghobadlou, would be retried.
Hours later, however, Mizan issued a statement from the supreme court that said Mr Ghobadlou's appeal had been rejected and confirmed his sentence. It did not elaborate.
Rights groups outside Iran have said Mr Seydi and Mr Ghobadlou had been facing the death penalty based on accusations of involvement in the protests.
Mizan did not specify the verdicts, but confirmed both were charged with offences punishable by death.
Mr 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".
Mr Seydi was accused of "moharebeh", which means "enmity against God". Rights groups said the rapper had been accused of firing a pistol into the air three times during the demonstrations.
Saturday's developments come three days after Mizan said the supreme court had ordered the retrial of Mr Sadrat, who had been sentenced to death after being convicted of capital offences during the protests.
Iran has arrested thousands of people over the unrest in which the authorities say more than 200 people have been killed, including dozens of security personnel.
Rights group HRANA said that as of Friday 506 civilians had been killed, including 69 minors, during the protests. It said 66 members of the security forces had also been killed. As many as 18,516 protesters are believed to have been arrested, it said.
A top state security body said earlier this month that 200 people, including members of security forces, had lost their lives in the unrest.
The Islamic republic has already executed two young men over the protests.
Majidreza Rahnavard, 23, was hanged in public on December 12 after being sentenced to death by a court in second city Mashhad for allegedly killing two members of the security forces with a knife.
Four days earlier, Mohsen Shekari, also 23, was executed for allegedly wounding a member of the security forces.
Campaigners say a dozen other defendants are charged with offences that could also see them receive the death penalty.
With reporting from agencies
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So what is Spicy Chickenjoy?
Just as McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Jollibee has Spicy Chickenjoy – a piece of fried chicken that’s crispy and spicy on the outside and comes with a side of spaghetti, all covered in tomato sauce and topped with sausage slices and ground beef. It sounds like a recipe that a child would come up with, but perhaps that’s the point – a flavourbomb combination of cheap comfort foods. Chickenjoy is Jollibee’s best-selling product in every country in which it has a presence.
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
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Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Barcelona v Liverpool, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE).
Second leg
Liverpool v Barcelona, Tuesday, May 7, 11pm
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Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
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