Tehran - Iran's revolutionary court has sentenced four people to death and more could face execution for pro-democracy demonstrations in July, a decision reflecting the strength of hardliners in the judiciary.
Judge Gholamhossein Rahbarpour, in an interview yesterday in the conservative daily Jomhuri-ye Eslami, declined to name the four people facing the death penalty, but said they were involved in the six days of unrest, when prodemocracy students clashed with police and Islamic vigilantes.
The decision is a sign from hardliners that they have no plans to yield to a new judiciary chief, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, who took over in August.