Iran's Supreme Court has ordered that a young protester sentenced to death in early November be retried, law enforcement agency Mizan Online reported on Wednesday.
Mahan Sadrat is one of eleven people to date sentenced to death, according to Iranian justice, for events related to the protest movement that has shaken the country for three months.
The protests, described as riots by authorities, were sparked by the September 16 death in custody of a young Iranian Kurd, Mahsa Amini, arrested for violating the Islamic Republic's strict dress code for women.
Two death row inmates already executed
Two death row inmates, both aged 23, have already been executed, found guilty of killing or injuring members of the security forces or paramilitaries.
Mahan Sadrat, in his twenties, was found guilty on November 3 of being a "
mohareb
" (at war with God), after drawing a knife, causing fear and insecurity around from him, the official Irna news agency reported.
Read alsoIn the Middle East, the demonstrations of support for Mahsa Amini want to reshuffle the cards of the status of women
Mahan Sadrat denied brandishing a knife but admitted setting fire to a motorbike, according to Irna.
His death sentence was suspended last week.
“
According to the new grounds and evidence in the Mahan Sadrat Marni case, the accused's request for a new trial was found to be in accordance with the law ... and therefore the case was sent back to court for a new trial
,” Mizan Online said Wednesday, without further details.
The agency of the Judicial Authority also affirms that "
no final sentence has been pronounced
" with regard to the doctor Hamid Ghare-Hasanlou, implicitly denying that he had already been sentenced to death.
Mizan's comments come after the reformist daily
Etemad
reported on Wednesday that "
Ghare-Hasannou's death sentence has been overturned
".
Amnesty International, which had also reported his death sentence, said the doctor and his wife were on their way to the funeral of a protester when they were "
caught up in the chaos
" of a fatal attack on a member of the Bassij militia.
