Iranian authorities have sentenced five people to death for allegedly killing members of a paramilitary group linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard, while another eleven people have received long prison terms, state media reported.
Thirteen men and three minors were sentenced for the murder of Ruholah Adjamiyan, a member of the Basij group, a volunteer paramilitary branch of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, Iran's state news agency IRNA reported.
The verdicts for five of those sentenced to death and eight others were pronounced by the Iranian Revolutionary Court. The three boys were convicted by the Iranian Criminal Court.
Court spokesman Masud Setayeshi cited in the report did not provide evidence to support the allegations.
The IRNA agency did not specify the identity of the 16 convicts who can appeal the verdict.
The alleged killing took place in a town near Tehran on November 12 when a group of men chased and attacked Adjamian with knives and stones, the report said.
The agency's report refers to rioters, which is a common term used by the state to refer to protesters and participants in anti-government demonstrations taking place in the area at the time.
Three months of anti-government demonstrations that have been suppressed by Iranian security forces were sparked by the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, after she was detained for allegedly violating Iran's strict dress code by leaving her hair sticking out from under a headscarf.
Meanwhile, the demonstrations have turned into calls for the overthrow of Iran's religious rulers and represent one of the most serious challenges to Iranian authorities since the 1979 revolution.
Iran's Revolutionary Court regularly hands down death sentences. The court was established after the Islamic revolution in 1979.
According to Amnesty International, Iran executed at least 314 people in 2021, more than half of the total number of executions carried out in the Middle East that year.
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