Iranian President Ebrahim #Raisi, a hard-liner who crushed dissent, dies at 63

May 20, 2024

"A year after assuming the presidency, he ordered a crackdown on women's dress codes. That led to the arrest of a young #Kurdish woman, #MahsaAmini, whose headscarf had not properly covered her hair, in line with the country's '#hijab and chastity' law. Amini's death in custody sparked nationwide protests that resulted in hundreds of deaths, according to human rights groups, and were seen as one of the most serious threats to the Islamic regime since it came to power in the 1979 revolution.

"Since those protests died down, the regime has recently launched a new crackdown on women's dress codes, which #HumanRights group #AmnestyInternational has described as a '#WarOnWomen.'

"The brutal repression of the protests was not the first time Raisi had been accused of ruthlessly crushing dissent. Rights groups have said that as a young prosecutor in 1988, he sat on what became known as 'death committees' which ordered the execution of #PoliticalPrisoners.

"Raisi sat on the panel in Tehran, which rights groups say ordered the execution of hundreds of enemies of the Islamic regime: Amnesty International estimates that nationwide, around 5,000 people were put to death."

https://www.npr.org/2024/05/20/1252381374/iran-president-ebraim-raisi-dead-obituary-human-rights

#Iran #Persia #Manat #Alat #ArasRiver #Arakians #Karma #Kurds #GayIranians #Justice