In a new version of the sentence, Iran’s justice system states that Erfan Soltani was not sentenced to the death penalty, says state media

Iran has the first execution of a protester The Iranian court stated, this Thursday (15), that the Iranian protester Erfan Soltani, aged 26, was not sentenced to the death penalty, contrary to what had been said by his family, according to the NGO Hengaw. According to the Judiciary, Soltani, who is currently detained in the Karaj central prison, faces charges of “collusion against the country’s internal security and propaganda activities against the regime”, which are not punishable by the death penalty. Information from the judiciary’s statement was released by the Reuters news agency, which followed Iranian state media. According to the NGO, the execution by hanging that was scheduled for this Wednesday (14) has been postponed. The institution says it received information from Soltani’s relatives. “In conversations with Erfan Soltani’s family, Hengaw found that Erfan Soltani’s death sentence, which had previously been announced to his family and would be executed on Wednesday, was not carried out and was postponed,” says the organization. Until then, the information was that Soltani’s sentence would be Moharebeh — which can be read as “hatred against God”. Iran is known for executing hundreds of people for this crime. According to the Kurdish-Iranian humanitarian organization Hengaw, local authorities informed the family that the sentence was final. A source close to the family, speaking on condition of anonymity, told IranWire: “The family is under extreme pressure. Even a close relative, who is a lawyer, tried to take over the case but was blocked and threatened by security agents. They told him, ‘There is no process to look into. We announce that anyone arrested in the protests will be executed.” Pressure from Trump The President of the United States, Donald Trump, had stated that the American country would adopt “very harsh measures” if Iran began to hang protesters. In the interview, Trump said he was not aware of the decision to execute protesters, but issued a warning when informed about the reports. “We will take very tough measures if they do this kind of thing,” he said. This Wednesday (14), the president stated that he had been informed that the “killing” in Iran had been stopped and that there were no plans for new executions. Trump said during an event at the White House that he had received the information from a “reliable source”. “The massacre in Iran is stopping. It has stopped. And there is no plan for executions,” he said, without giving details. Erfan Soltani, protester arrested in Iran Reproduction/Instagram People close to him told the NDTV portal that the protester did not have the right to defend himself before being convicted. His family were only able to visit him for 10 minutes. The repression of protests taking place in Iran has already left around 2,000 people dead, a member of the Iranian government told Reuters news agency on Tuesday (13). Protest in Iran UGC via AP

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