At least five protesters arrested in Iran last week during antigovernment demonstrations will be tried on charges of warring against God, which carries an automatic death sentence if they are found guilty, Iran’s judiciary said Thursday.

The severity of the charge, coming so soon after the defendants were arrested, suggests that the Islamic theocracy is stepping up its efforts to intimidate protesters to end the demonstrations that began over the disputed election results in June and have erupted periodically ever since despite a brutal crackdown.

In a statement carried by IRNA, Iran’s official news agency, the judiciary said the five would soon be tried by the Revolutionary Court on charges of Moharebeh, meaning waging war against God. The statement did not disclose their names, when they would be tried or details of accusations against them.

Tehran’s prosecutor general, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, said Sunday that the judiciary would deal with detainees arrested during the most recent protests “very severely,” the news agency ISNA reported.