by Ten Bottemiller

On September 16, 22-year old Mahsa Amini died three days after being taken in by Iranian police, inciting protests across the country. She was allegedly beaten in custody due to her violation of the strict Islamic dress code.

An estimated 18,000 protesters have been detained since protests began and over 400 have been killed, NPR reported. The Iranian government attempted to cover up Amini’s death, as well as many more, by terminating internet access in Iran. Between these occurrences, word spread across the internet and Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi launched an investigation into Amini’s death. 

In early November, viral videos, many of which have since been deleted, announced a false execution order of 14,000 Iranian protesters. Though untrue, the claim wasn’t hard to believe due to Iran ranking first in the number of executions per country and it being entirely possible for more executions to take place. Over 500 people have been executed in Iran in 2022, a stark increase since last year’s 314, and 26 are facing charges that could lead to execution, including three minors. 

While Iran’s parliament voted for executing the prisoners, the decision is not up to them. Of the 290 parliament members, 227 voted in favor of the executions, but the fate of the prisoners rests with the judiciary, who answers to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.