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Amir Reza Nasr Azadani, a 26-year-old football player who plays as a defender for Iranjavan Bushehr FC, a team in the 2nd Iranian league, has been sentenced to death following active participation in protests for women's rights and freedom of expression that have raging on inside the Islamic Republic for months.
He has been charged with "rebellion, membership in illegal gangs, collusion to undermine security and therefore assisting in moharabeh", the latter word meaning "waging war against God", which carries the death penalty.
Several other Iranian footballers have pleaded with the regime to avoid the death penalty in this case, but so far the regime's position has gone unchanged.
Amnesty International has said that 11 people were executed already in Iran over this charge, while nine others are facing the death penalty, including Azadani.
First published: 13:28, 12.14.22