Iranian court accepts appeal against death sentence.
The man rejected the accusations, saying he was forced to confess, and has been on a hunger strike for two weeks.
(Reuters)- Iran's Supreme Court has accepted an appeal by a protester against his death sentence for allegedly damaging public property and sent the case back for review, the judiciary said today (31), while a human rights group said more clashes have broken out in the west of the country.
Sahand Noor Mohammadzadeh, 25, was arrested on October 4 and sentenced to death two months later on charges of "waging war against God" for allegedly attempting to break through a metal barrier on a road in Tehran and setting fire to a trash can during anti-government protests.
The man rejected the accusations, saying he was forced to confess, and has been on a hunger strike for two weeks.
Iran has executed two people involved in mass protests that erupted in September, following the death in custody of Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by the morality police who enforce a strict dress code on women.
Death penalty
Amnesty International said Iranian authorities are seeking the death penalty for at least 26 other people, in what the campaign group said was an attempt to intimidate protesters.
The Norway-based Iran Human Rights group said this week that at least 100 detained protesters faced possible death sentences. Iranian authorities have blamed Iran's foreign enemies and their agents for orchestrating the unrest.
"The Supreme Court has accepted the appeal of Sahand Noor Mohammadzadeh, one of those accused in the recent unrest. His case has been sent to the same branch of the Revolutionary Court for review," the judicial news agency Mizan said on Twitter.
The court did not give a reason for the decision. The protester remains in jail awaiting the outcome of the review.
Conflicts
The human rights group Hengaw announced that there was more violence on Saturday, with one person killed and eight injured in clashes between security forces and protesters in Javanrud, in the western province of Kermanshah.
Hengaw, which reports on the Kurdish regions of Iran, published videos of what it said were clashes between security forces and protesters who gathered at a cemetery 40 days after the deaths of seven other Kurdish demonstrators. Reuters news agency could not verify the footage.