This thread by journalist Shayan Sardarizadeh is interesting. He fact checks the claim, repeated by Justin Trudeau, that the Iranian regime has committed to executing 15,000 detained protesters...
twitter.com/Shayan86/status/1592476918305427458
The widely shared claim that the Iranian regime has committed to executing 15,000 detained protesters is not true. Please stop sharing it. The Iranian regime is horrific, brutal and ruthless as it actually is. There's no need to make up stories.
This is what happens when reputable sources like Newsweek publish stories that lack basic context and facts. Even Candian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has tweeted the inaccurate claim.
The Iranian regime is horrible as it actually is. Report the facts on what it's doing.
Here are the facts:
Rights groups estimate 344 protesters, including 52 children, have so far been killed and 15,820 arrested by the Iranian regime.
The regime is well-known for beating up and torturing protesters and political activists in its notorious prisons.
The regime is also well-known for holding sham trials and handing out lenghty prison sentences to activists and protesters, and is widely expected to do the same again.
1,019 protesters have so far been formally charged by the regime. Most have not been charged or tried yet.
There have been calls by 227 Iranian MPs and some hardline groups inside Iran for tough sentences for protesters, including the potential use of the death penalty.
The first death sentence for a protester was handed out two days ago.
One of the six men on trial for taking part in protests in Iran has been convicted of "moharebeh" and sentenced to death, the judiciary has announced.
The unnamed individual is the first person to be given the death penalty since protests started in September. twitter.com/KianSharifi/st…
The Iranian regime is not alien to mass executions of political prisoners. It's one of the most brutal regimes on the planet.
In 1988, after a decree by its founder Ayatollah Khomeini, the regime executed between 2,500 and 30,000 political prisoners. The exact number is unknown.
But it's much harder for the Iranian regime to do mass executions in 2022 for a variety of reasons.
The regime has already killed hundreds and detained thousands of protesters in just eight weeks.
Report the facts of what it's doing to Iranians. They're horrific enough.
The Iranian regime has already issued the death peanlty to one protester and will almost certainly hand out more.
Journalists and rights groups should report each unjust sentence by Iran's notorious judiciary and hold the regime to account, but we must do so based on facts.