Iranian Justice has imposed this Saturday the death penalty on a supposed member of the Jaish al Zalm terrorist group, which is attributed crimes of rebellion and war crimes for his involvement in an armed assault against a Police station in the town of Khash, in the country’s southeast, an attack that caused several agents dead and injured.
According to information released by the Iranian official news agency Mizan, as part of intelligence work, security forces arrested Mohamad Arif Shahbakhsh after tracing his alleged membership and collaboration with the Jais al Zalm terrorist group -- known as the Army of Justice --, as well as his possible direct involvement in the armed attack against the aforementioned police station.
Jais al Zalm is an insurgent organization that operates in the border area between Iran and Pakistan and that claims the end of discrimination against Sunni Muslims, as well as demanding the independence of the province of Sistan and Baluchestan, located at the country’s far southeastern end.
The case file has been transferred to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which has finally issued a ruling by which it sentences Mohamad Arif Shahbakhsh to death on charges of rebellion and war against a police station. The authorities have specified that the accused’s detention occurred in 2024.
For its part, various human rights organizations argue that there is no independent verification proving the defendant’s participation in the attack. In this regard, they denounce that Iran uses the death penalty as a tool to suppress the voices of the opposition.