France slams death sentence for Iran protestor

France on Wednesday condemned the death sentence handed to an Iranian protestor for his part in anti-government riots.

PARIS, February 10, 2010 (AFP) - France on Wednesday condemned the death sentence handed to an Iranian protestor for his part in anti-government riots and said the Islamic regime in Tehran was seeking to intimidate the opposition.

"We learnt with indignation that yet another person has just been condemned to death by the Iranian justice system for exercising his right to demonstrate," said foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero.

"This decision shows not only that repression is continuing but also demonstrates the (government's) will to intimidate the opposition," he told reporters.

Iran's ISNA news agency reported Tuesday that a man had been condemned to death for anti-government riots in late December.

That brought to 12 the total number sentenced to death for their role in a series of protests over what many in Iran believed to have been the rigged re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June.

Of the 12 people in total condemned to hang, two were executed on January 28.