AhlulBayt News Agency: Canadian Prime Minister has faced widespread backlash after claiming in a tweet later deleted that almost 15,000 people had been sentenced to death in Iran over their participation in the Mahsa Amini protests.
Riots broke out in Iran in mid-September after the death of Amini. The 22-year-old fainted at a police station in Tehran and was pronounced dead three days later in hospital. An official report by Iran’s Legal Medicine Organization concluded that Amini’s death was caused by illness rather than alleged blows to the head or other vital body organs.
Rioters went on a rampage, brutally attacking security officers and causing massive damage to public property as Western powers, especially the United States, provided support.
Earlier in the month, Iran’s Intelligence Ministry said the United States and the United Kingdom were “directly” involved in the unrest, adding that dozens of terrorists affiliated with the Israeli regime and anti-revolution groups have also been detained in the unrest.
In a tweet on Tuesday - later deleted - Trudeau expressed solidarity with weekslong riots over the death of Amini.
He falsely said Iran has imposed the death penalty on nearly 15,000 protestors.
The figure he cited has been widely circulated by anti-Iran voices across social media, including on Twitter and Instagram, but it has also provoked raised eyebrows from journalists and campaigners.
Siavash Ardalan, a senior reporter for BBC Persian, criticized Trudeau's decision to repeat the claim.
"I don't know the source of the news that 15,000 protesters were sentenced to death, but even Justin Trudeau repeated it," Ardalan tweeted.
He also criticized Trudeau for his "weak news sources."
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Riots broke out in Iran in mid-September after the death of Amini. The 22-year-old fainted at a police station in Tehran and was pronounced dead three days later in hospital. An official report by Iran’s Legal Medicine Organization concluded that Amini’s death was caused by illness rather than alleged blows to the head or other vital body organs.
Rioters went on a rampage, brutally attacking security officers and causing massive damage to public property as Western powers, especially the United States, provided support.
Earlier in the month, Iran’s Intelligence Ministry said the United States and the United Kingdom were “directly” involved in the unrest, adding that dozens of terrorists affiliated with the Israeli regime and anti-revolution groups have also been detained in the unrest.
In a tweet on Tuesday - later deleted - Trudeau expressed solidarity with weekslong riots over the death of Amini.
He falsely said Iran has imposed the death penalty on nearly 15,000 protestors.
The figure he cited has been widely circulated by anti-Iran voices across social media, including on Twitter and Instagram, but it has also provoked raised eyebrows from journalists and campaigners.
Siavash Ardalan, a senior reporter for BBC Persian, criticized Trudeau's decision to repeat the claim.
"I don't know the source of the news that 15,000 protesters were sentenced to death, but even Justin Trudeau repeated it," Ardalan tweeted.
He also criticized Trudeau for his "weak news sources."
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