On December 7, the climax of a three-day campaign of intensified protests was a massive nightly rally of thousands of Tehran residents towards Azadi (Freedom) Square. Iranian women and men demonstrated even more determination to destabilize the clerical regime and bring about regime change.
Iranian students staged protests, sit-ins, and strikes at dozens of universities across the country. Security forces detained a number of student protesters at Tehran University, Khajeh Nassir University in Tehran, and Ferdowsi University in Mashhad.
At Tehran University, Amir Kabir University in Tehran, and Ferdowsi University in Mashhad, members of the Bassij and university security forces clashed with student protesters. They used batons and sticks to attack the student protesters, injuring some of them.
The bazaars of Tehran and all major cities across the country went on strike for the third day in a row in solidarity with the Iranian uprising. Simultaneously, in addition to deploying tens of thousands of IRGC guards, Bassij members, and plainclothes to contain and suppress the protests, the mullahs are attempting to put an end to the protests by issuing death sentences to those who have been arrested.
On December 7, the Iranian judiciary sentenced five protesters to death and sentenced another 11, including three 17-year-olds, to long prison terms. The sixteen defendants are accused of killing a member of the paramilitary Bassij force, Ruhollah Ajamian, who had killed two protesters, Nima Nouri and Mehran Shekari, during protests on November 3 during Hadis Najafi’s 40-day memorial in Karaj.
The Judiciary’s spokesman, Massoud Setayeshi, stated that the verdicts were a preventive measure intended to teach the protesters a lesson.
I salute the courageous university students who rose up today across #Iran despite brutal attacks and massive arrests by repressive forces. With chants of “Death to Khamenei,” they seek the criminal mullahs’ overthrow. #IranRevolution pic.twitter.com/yZgIPoT1bO
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) December 7, 2022
One of the five sentenced to death was radiologist Dr. Hamid Ghareh Hassanlou, 53. His wife, the lab technician Farzaneh Ghareh Hassanlou, was sentenced to 25 years in a remote location, Ahvaz, with no contact with anyone.
According to some social media reports, he was informed of his verdict while in the hospital. Others claim he was taken to court in a hospital gown to testify. He stripped naked to show the presiding judge the scars of torture used to extract false confessions.
Dr. Ghareh Hassanlou and his wife, Farzaneh, are well-known for their charitable work with the poor and child laborers. They also assisted in the construction of schools in southern Iran.
The NCRI Women’s Committee urges international human rights organizations, including the UN Human Rights Council and the Special Rapporteur on Iran, to take immediate action to end Iran’s unfair and illegal treatment of peaceful protesters, including women.
MEK Iran (follow us on Twitter and Facebook), Maryam Rajavi’s on her site, Twitter & Facebook, NCRI (Twitter & Facebook), and People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran – MEK IRAN – YouTub
