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Iranian chess players compete without hijab, 100 Iranian detainees could face death penalty, rights group says

At least 100 Iranians, including five women, have been charged with capital offences in connection with protests in Iran, Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) says.

But anti-government protests are continuing, with two Iranian chess players defying hijab laws during a chess tournament in Kazakhstan.

The IHR report published by the group on Tuesday identified 100 individuals whose sentences or indictments had either been announced by officials or reported by their families or journalists.

"This is a minimum as most families are under pressure to stay quiet," the report said, adding that the real number was believed to be much higher.  

IHR said all the defendants had been "deprived of the right to access their own lawyer, due process and fair trials", and all those who were able to be contacted said they were "subjected to physical and mental torture to force false self-incriminating confessions".

Two protesters were publicly executed this month.

Mohsen Shekari, 23, was executed for wounding a member of the security forces, and Majidreza Rahnavard, also 23, was hanged in public four days later after being accused of killing two members of the security forces.

The protests erupted on September 16, following the death of Mahsa Amini, who died in custody after being arrested in Tehran for an alleged breach of the Islamic republic's dress code for women.

The protests have since transformed into calls for the overthrow of Iran's ruling clerics, presenting one of the most durable challenges to the theocracy since the chaotic years following the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

More than 18,000 people have been arrested in the government's crackdown, according to human rights groups in Iran.

IHR reported the deaths of 476 protesters killed by security forces in the past two months, including 64 children and 34 women.

"Despite more than 100 days passing since the start of the nationwide protests, hundreds being killed, thousands arrested and protesters being executed, the people's uprising for real change and achieving fundamental rights continues," said IHR director Mahmood Amiry Moghaddam.

"The challenge facing people is the price they have to pay to achieve this goal."

Iranian chess players defy hijab rule

Two Iranian chess players on Wednesday competed in the World Rapid and Blitz Championships in the Kazakh city of Almaty without headscarves.

Sara Khadem and Atousa Pourkashiyan followed other Iranian public figures in abandoning the hijab.

Ms Khadem, born in 1997 and also known as Sarasadat Khademalsharieh, is ranked 804 in the world, according to the  International Chess Federation website.

The website for the December 25-30 event listed her as a participant in both the Rapid and Blitz competitions.

Iranian news outlets Khabarvarzeshi and Etemad, in reports on Monday, said Ms Khadem had competed at the championship in Almaty without a hijab.

Ms Pourkashiyan, who is from Iran, was representing the United States at the tournament.

The mandatory headscarf became the focus of unrest against Iran's government.

Laws enforcing mandatory hijab have become a flashpoint during the protests, with a string of sportswomen competing overseas appearing without their headscarves in public.

Even public figures who have expressed solidarity with the movement, including Taraneh Alidoosti, one of the country's most famous actresses, have been swept up in the dragnet.

Iran's main union for film industry workers, House of Cinema, reported on Tuesday that 13 actors were in jail over the protests.

ABC/wires

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