Iran dissident group says six members sentenced to death

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — A national Iranian flag waves in the wind over a building of the Iranian embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sept. 24, 2022. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

PARIS (Reuters) - Six Iranian dissidents have been sentenced to death for charges ranging from belonging to an opposition group, collusion against the state and armed rebellion, according to a ruling seen by Reuters on Wednesday and a statement from the group.

The sentences from Nov. 25 come amid a rise in what Human Rights Watch said in November was a "flurry of new death sentences" in recent weeks.

The six men, part of the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK), are aged between 32-65 and have a history of opposing Iranian authorities.

Iranian officials were not immediately available for comment.

"Desperately weakened and cornered Ali Khamenei futilely seeks to preserve his regime through a wave of executions," Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), whose largest component is the PMOI, said on X.

The group, also known by its Persian name Mujahideen-e-Khalq, was once listed as a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union but not since 2012.

Tehran has long called for a crackdown on the NCRI in Paris, Riyadh, and Washington. The group is regularly criticised in state media.

"Iranian authorities use the death penalty as a tool of fear, particularly targeting ethnic minorities and political dissidents after unfair trials," said Nahid Naghshbandi, acting Iran researcher at Human Rights Watch.

"This brutal tactic aims to suppress any opposition to an autocratic government through intimidation."



(Reporting by Paris newsroom; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Bill Berkrot)