World

Iran sentenced five people to hang for killing a paramilitary member, the judiciary said Tuesday, a ruling condemned by rights activists as a means to “spread fear” and stop protests over Mahsa Amini’s death.

Another 11 people, including three children, were handed long jail terms over the murder, judiciary spokesman Massoud Setayeshi told a news conference, adding the sentences could be appealed.

Prosecutors said paramilitary member Ruhollah Ajamian, 27, was stripped naked and killed by a group of mourners who had been paying tribute to a slain protester, Hadis Najafi.

Najafi was killed on September 21, five days into the wave of protests that erupted across Iran after the death of Amini, following her arrest by the morality police for an alleged breach of the country’s hijab dress code for women.

Iran has struggled to quell the largely peaceful protests.

In a surprise move, Iran’s prosecutor general, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri was Sunday quoted as saying that the morality police units –- known formally as Gasht-e Ershad (“Guidance Patrol”) — had been closed down.

But his comments have yet to be followed up by an official announcement and have drawn widespread scepticism.

Ajamian had died on November 3 in Karaj, west of Tehran, after being attacked with “knives, stones, fists, kicks” and being dragged along a street, said the judiciary spokesman.

He belonged to the Basij, a state-sanctioned volunteer force that is linked to Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

– Protesters again defy crackdown –

The five sentenced to death were convicted of “corruption on earth” — one of the most serious offences under Islamic sharia law in Iran.

The other 11, including a woman, were convicted for “their role in the riots” and received lengthy prison terms, said Setayeshi.

The rulings bring to 11 the number of people sentenced to death over the protests.

They were condemned by Norway-based non-governmental organisation Iran Human Rights.

“These people are sentenced after unfair processes and without due process,” IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam told AFP. “The aim is to spread fear and make people stop protesting.” 

Despite a crackdown that has killed hundreds, images posted online showed shops closed in cities across the country on Tuesday, the second day of a strike that culminates Wednesday on Student Day.

“Freedom, freedom, freedom,” dozens of students from Tehran’s Allameh Tabatabai University were heard chanting in a video published by IHR.

At least 448 people have been “killed by security forces in the ongoing nationwide protests”, the Oslo-based rights group said in its latest toll issued on November 29.

Iran, which accuses the United States and its allies Britain and Israel of fomenting the rest, said on Saturday that more than 200 people have been killed since the protests began. A general had put the figure at more than 300 last week.

– Campaign of arrests –

Iran currently executes more people annually than any nation other than China, Amnesty International says.

The London-based rights group said on November 16 that, based on official reports, at least 21 protesters had been charged with crimes that could see them hanged in what it called “sham trials”.

The crackdown has also seen thousands of people arrested, including 40 foreigners and prominent actors, journalists and lawyers.

Among them are a dozen alleged members of an unnamed European-linked group accused of planning acts of sabotage.

The Revolutionary Guards in Markazi province, southwest of Tehran, said Tuesday they had arrested “a network with 12 members with links abroad”.

They had been “under the guidance of counter-revolutionary agents living in Germany and the Netherlands” and had “attempted to procure weapons and intended to carry out subversive acts”.

The Guards, referring to the nationwide protests, said that the “riots project has failed”.

It warned acts of sabotage would continue, however, and appealed for the “vigilance of loyal people… especially shopkeepers, students and workers” to foil them.

Iranian lawmaker Hossein Jalali called on the authorities to send women who fail to observe hijab text messages threatening to block their bank accounts, Shargh newspaper said.

Meanwhile police in Britain said a fire broke out overnight next to the London office of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) opposition group. There was no evidence so far that it was a deliberate attack.

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The threat of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s immediate exit from office over a cash-in-sofas scandal has temporarily faded after his party vowed to rally around him at next week’s impeachment vote, but his woes are far from over.

The next days are critical for the head of state who has been championed as a graft-busting saviour after the corruption-drenched tenure of predecessor Jacob Zuma.

Ruling African National Congress (ANC) party lawmakers vowed to close ranks around him at an impeachment vote in parliament next week, but Ramaphosa remains embroiled in the worst scandal of his career that could yet bring him down.

After a tumultuous week following a report by a parliament-sanctioned independent panel which found that he “may have committed” serious violations and misconduct, Ramaphosa appeared to have earned a respite.

The parliament sitting to vote on whether he should face impeachment, initially slated for Tuesday, was at the 11th hour pushed back by a week, prolonging the uncertainty around Ramaphosa’s future.

That vote will come just three days before the ANC meets for its five-yearly conference to elect a new president. Ramaphosa is the leading candidate of the two nominees named so far for the party leadership.

But that is no guarantee he will be re-elected, or serve out his full state presidential term which should run until April 2024.

ANC members facing criminal allegations or charges are expected to step aside.

Ramaphosa is not charged yet over the scandal dubbed “Phala Phala farm-gate”, after the name of the estate in northeastern South Africa.

That gives him room to still try his luck and contest the ANC leadership — a ticket to the national presidency.

“The step-aside rule doesn’t apply here, Cyril Ramaphosa is not charged with anything,” lawyer and ANC veteran Mathews Phosa told eNCA news at the weekend.

But scandals do not necessarily decide the fate of an ANC president and the party throughout its nearly three decades in power has exhibited a tendency to protect its own people.

“In the ANC you could be charged for rape and still become president, you could be charged for an international arms deal and still be a president,” said political analyst Sandile Swana.

– Undignified exit? –

Formerly a wealthy businessman, the president may follow the footsteps of two of his predecessors, Zuma and Thabo Mbeki, who did not complete their tenures and were forced out by the ANC.

“The presidency of Ramaphosa is going to be short,” said Swana, but “his chances of leaving in a dignified manner are minimal”.

The 70-year-old president found himself in hot water in June when South Africa’s former spy boss filed a complaint to the police alleging Ramaphosa had concealed a huge cash theft from his game and rare cattle farm in 2020.

He accused the president of having organised for the burglars to be kidnapped and bribed into silence. 

Ramaphosa has denied any wrongdoing, saying the cash — more than half a million dollars, stashed beneath sofa cushions — was payment for buffaloes bought by a Sudanese businessman.

But his explanations did not convince the special panel, which raised questions about the source of the cash.

On Monday Ramaphosa rushed to the country’s top court asking it to annul the panel’s report, but it is uncertain if his request will be granted.

The Constitutional Court case, which may take days or weeks to be concluded, “does not in itself stop the parliamentary (impeachment) proceedings from continuing”, said public law professor at the University of Cape Town Cathy Powell.

If the impeachment process is greenlighted it will take months of investigations and hearings before the final vote.

“The problem with this one is that it doesn’t seem to be completely frivolous,” the question whether it is serious enough to be fired for, said Powell.

When lawmakers meet next week a simple majority in the National Assembly, where the ANC has 230 out of 400 seats, will be required to initiate the impeachment process.

The impeachment vote itself would need a two-thirds majority to succeed.

If the impeachment proceedings go ahead, Ramaphosa risks being the first South African leader to be formally removed from office by parliament, said Swana.

The scandal has preoccupied South Africans who are already battling economic hardships, the inadequate provision of basic services such as electricity and a dizzying rate of unemployment.

The signing of an initial deal by Sudan’s military regime and civilians has been widely hailed by the international community, but many at home eye it with deep scepticism.

Sudan, one of the world’s poorest countries, has been mired in deep turmoil since army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan carried out a military coup in October last year, derailing a transition to civilian rule. 

That power grab came just two-and-a-half years after enormous street protests had pressed the army into ousting long-time autocrat Omar al-Bashir.

Many dared believe the resultant power-sharing arrangement would guarantee freedoms and provide justice, but the coup extinguished those hopes, provoking donors into suspending funding and exacerbating a long-running economic crisis.

Events of the last year have also fed into worsening security crises in far-flung regions. 

On Monday, senior military figures and civilian groups agreed an accord laying the groundwork for re-establishing a civilian authority — a move welcomed by the United Nations, Washington, London, Brussels, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, among others.

The deal, phase one of a two-phase process, was signed by the main civilian bloc, the Forces For Freedom and Change, which had for months opposed engaging with the army in the wake of the coup.

It stipulates that non-military signatories will agree on a prime minister to steer the country through a new 24-month transition. 

“The soldiers will go to the barracks, and the parties to the elections,” Burhan promised during the signing ceremony, to loud applause.  

His deputy, paramilitary commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, even admitted that the coup had been “a political mistake.” 

But Sudanese analysts, a senior cabinet minister and a regional governor caution that the deal risks being over-hyped.

– ‘Merely symbolic move’ –

Kholood Khair, founder of the Confluence Advisory, a Khartoum-based think-tank, notes that the agreement improves the international community’s perception of Burhan.

But “it works out less well for the civilians … who will have to do the hard work and sell it to the public.” 

And “it does not inspire confidence that it will lead to the kind of reforms that people want to see.”

Pro-democracy activists have voiced strong opposition to the deal.

Crowds of angry protesters took to the streets on Monday, chanting “no to the settlement” and “betrayal.” 

“It’s merely a symbolic move that should be developed further to a more concrete deal,” said Sudanese analyst Othman Mirghani. 

Otherwise, “it would be a meaningless step.”

Monday’s deal sets broad guidelines for a civilian-led transition that largely fell short on specifics and timelines. 

It pledges accountability, reforms to the security sector and bars the army from conducting non-military related businesses, in a country where this institution has wide-ranging commercial interests. 

Dagalo himself — head of a long-feared paramilitary group — has pledged justice to families of people killed by security forces over the years, a key demand of activists.

Signatories to the deal have pledged to hammer out the details of transitional justice, accountability and security reform “within weeks”. 

Mirghani says such complex issues could instead take months to thrash out.

– ‘No trust’ –

The deal “is also contingent on… public trust in the agreement and the protagonists,” Khair said. 

“And frankly that doesn’t exist,” she added. 

The deal was met by strong opposition from key ex-rebel leaders who two years ago signed a peace deal hammered out with the short-lived transition government.

Discussions over implementation of the 2020 peace deal have been slated for phase two of Monday’s agreement. 

Ex-rebel leader Mini Minnawi, who is also governor of the restive Darfur region, slammed the agreement as “exclusionary.” 

Finance minister and ex-rebel Gibril Ibrahim said it was “far from a national accord and does not lead to free and fair elections.” 

“It will be hard to proceed with a comprehensive deal without agreeing with armed groups, most notably those of Ibrahim and Minnawi’s,” said the analyst Mirghani. 

If Croatia gets approval this week to join the world’s largest visa-free area, the massive queues of vehicles at the borders with its European neighbours will become history.

European Union justice ministers meet on Thursday to decide whether to admit Croatia into the passport-free Schengen zone, which enables more than 400 million people to move freely around its 26 member nations.

One of the main sticking points has been questions over Croatia’s ability to police what is the 27-nation EU’s longest external land border, at a time when migration remains a key challenge for the country.

Zagreb’s application in 2016 to join Schengen has also come at a sensitive time for Europe.

Since 2015, millions of migrants, many from conflict zones, have risked their lives to enter the EU illegally and then the Covid 19 pandemic hit in 2020. 

Both prompted Schengen countries to reintroduce certain border controls.

If on Thursday Croatia gets the green light to join Schengen — potentially alongside Bulgaria and Romania — the kilometres-long (miles-long) vehicle queues at the Bregana border crossing with Slovenia will become a thing of the past.

Bregana is one of 73 land crossings with EU neighbours Slovenia and Hungary that would cease to exist.

“On January 1, we will raise the barriers and border traffic will be free,” the head of the national border police service, Zoran Niceno, told AFP.

At airports, the change will kick in on March 26, due to technical issues.

– Tourists and trucks-

Croatia hopes joining Schengen would boost its lucrative tourism industry. 

This year, the country of 3.9 million people hosted four times as many visitors, most of them from other EU states.

Removing border controls would enable holidaymakers to reach Croatian destinations faster, the head of the national tourist board, Kristjan Stanicic, said recently.

“International carriers will be delighted,” said Vladimir Jurcec of the national road hauliers’ association.

Removing checks at borders will save them between six and 10 hours every week.

“No more crowds and hours of queueing,” noted truck driver Filip Svetlicic, whose Italy-bound lorry was stuck in a queue several kilometres long to exit Croatia via Bregana.

On January 1, Croatia will also join the EU’s single currency club, the eurozone.

– Illegal migration challenge –

Ever since the former Yugoslav republic became an EU member nearly a decade ago, it has had the onerous task of policing the bloc’s longest external land border.

The border — which rubs shoulders for more than 1,350 kilometres (about 840 miles) with Bosnia, Montenegro and Serbia — is an area notorious for trafficking in migrants, drugs and weapons.

The most challenging is the 1,011-kilometre border with Bosnia, which is not only the longest but also consists of difficult terrain dotted with rivers and craggy mountains.

At the Stara Gradiska crossing with Bosnia, police carefully scrutinise documents and waiting vehicles.

For Malik Safeta, a bus driver from Sarajevo, such strict controls are not unusual.

“It’s normal. This is the last line of defence for the EU and the Schengen zone before the eastern world, which is always a bit more problematic,” he said.

The situation at Croatia’s borders with its non-EU neighbours is not expected to change much after January 1 because Zagreb has already introduced the Schengen area’s rules for dealing with its external limits.

“Croatia has applied Schengen procedures for years and uses all the tools required for such border controls,” Niceno, the border police head, said.

Police say tackling illegal migration was and will remain the most challenging task for its force of around 6,500 border officers.

NGOs and the media have repeatedly accused Croatian police of forcing migrants back over its external borders, often violently. Zagreb strongly denies the allegations.

Croatia lies on the dangerous Balkans migrant route, which was traversed by hundreds of thousands of would-be asylum seekers from Asia, the Middle East and Africa during Europe’s 2015-2016 “migrant crisis”. 

After the route was officially shut down in 2016, migrants seeking to enter western Europe continued to use it, although in far lower numbers.

However, this year their numbers increased significantly.

Nearly 130,000 people, including women and children, have been detected on the route since the start of 2022. That is 170 percent more than in 2021, according to EU border force Frontex.

As of November, Croatia had registered some 30,000 illegal migrants, nearly 150 percent more than over the same period last year.

The Stara Gradiska region has become a hotspot for migrants trying to cross the Sava river in small boats or sometimes even swimming despite freezing temperatures.

Croatian police and their EU counterparts say two things are key to tackling the issue — combatting the human traffickers and cooperating between the countries the migrants are trying to pass through.

“The people we apprehend are the last ones in the (trafficking) chain — the drivers,” Niceno said.

“But with cooperation and analysis, we can catch gangs and organisers.”

Iran has sentenced to death five people over the killing of a Basij paramilitary force member during nationwide protests sparked by Mahsa Amini’s death, the judiciary said Tuesday.

Another 11 people, including three children, were handed lengthy jail terms over the murder, judiciary spokesman Massoud Setayeshi told a news conference, adding the sentences could be appealed.

Prosecutors said Ajamian, 27, was stripped naked and killed by a group of mourners who had been paying tribute to a slain protester, Hadis Najafi.

Najafi had been killed on September 21, five days into the wave of protests that erupted across Iran after the death of Amini, following her arrest by the morality police for an alleged breach of the country’s hijab dress code for women.

Iran has struggled to quell the protests and street violence.

In a surprise move, Iran’s prosecutor general, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, was Sunday quoted as saying that the morality police units –- known formally as Gasht-e Ershad (“Guidance Patrol”) — had been closed down.

But his comments have yet to be followed up by an official announcement and have drawn widespread scepticism.

Ajamian had died on November 3 in Karaj, a city west of Tehran, after being attacked with “knives, stones, fists, kicks” and being dragged on the street, said the judiciary spokesman.

He belonged to the Basij, a state-sanctioned volunteer force that is linked to Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

– ‘War against God’ –

The five sentenced to death were convicted of “corruption on earth” — one of the most serious offences under Islamic sharia law in Iran.

The other 11, including a woman, were convicted for “their role in the riots” and received long jail terms, said Setayeshi.

The latest court rulings bring to 11 the number of people sentenced to death in Iran over the protests, described as “riots” by the authorities.

On November 20, the revolutionary court of Tehran handed down the death penalty for a person found guilty of “moharebeh”, which means waging “war against God”.

On November 16, the same court had sentenced three others to death in connection with the protests.

One was convicted of attacking police officers with his car, killing one of them, the second had stabbed a security officer and the third tried to block traffic and spread “terror”, Mizan said.

An Iranian general said on Monday that more than 300 people have been killed in the unrest, including dozens of members of the security forces.

Oslo-based non-government group Iran Human Rights said at least 448 people had been “killed by security forces in the ongoing nationwide protests”.

– Campaign of arrests –

Iran accuses the United States and its allies, including Britain, Israel, and Kurdish groups based outside the country of fomenting the unrest.

Amnesty International said on November 16 that, based on official reports, at least 21 people were charged with crimes that could see them hanged in what it called “sham trials”.

Iran currently executes more people annually than any nation other than China, according to the London-based human rights group.

Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands have been arrested, including 40 foreigners and prominent actors, journalists and lawyers.

Among them are 12 alleged members of an unnamed European-linked group accused of planning acts of sabotage.

In a statement quoted by Tasnim news agency, the Revolutionary Guards in Markazi province, southwest of Tehran, said they had arrested “a network with 12 members with links abroad”.

The statement alleged they had been “under the guidance of counter-revolutionary agents living in Germany and the Netherlands” and carried out “activities against national security”.

They had “attempted to procure weapons and intended to carry out subversive acts” but had been captured before being able to do so, it added.

The Guards statement said, about the nationwide protests, that the “riots project has failed”.