DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran said Thursday it has executed a prisoner convicted of a crime allegedly committed during nationwide protests, the first such execution by Tehran. punishment of.
The execution comes as other detainees also face a possible death sentence for their involvement in the protests, which first began as an outcry against Iran’s morality police and have been a major force in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. became one of the most serious challenges to the democracy of
Activists have warned that the death penalty could soon follow, as activists say at least a dozen people have been executed so far for their involvement in the demonstrations.
Mahmoud Amiri-Moghaddam, director of the Oslo-based activist group Iran Human Rights, wrote, “The execution of #MohsenShekari must be met with strong reactions to me or else we will face daily executions of protesters.” “This execution should rapidly have practical consequences on an international scale.”
Iran’s Mizan news agency reported the execution. It accused a man of blocking a road in Tehran and assaulting a security force member.
The Mizan news agency, run by the country’s judiciary, identified the man killed as Mohsin Shekhri. It said he was convicted in Tehran’s revolutionary court, which usually holds closed-door cases, which have been criticized internationally in other cases, for allowing those on trial to choose their own lawyers. or even not be allowed to see the evidence against them.
In this photo provided by the Revolutionary Guards Ground Force on October 17, 2022, soldiers stand as they take part in maneuvers in northwestern Iran. (Ground forces of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard via AP, File)
Mizan said Shekhri was arrested on 25 September, then indicted on 20 November on charges of “muharrebeh”, a Persian word meaning “waging war against God.” The charge has been brought against others in the decades since 1979 and carries the death penalty.
Iran is one of the world’s top executioners. It usually kills prisoners by hanging. Already, Amnesty International said it has obtained a document signed by a senior Iranian police commander calling for a prisoner to “carry out” his death sentence “in the shortest possible time” and publicly “to a heart”. Taught to do as a ‘touching gesture. Security forces.'”
Iran has been rocked by protests since the September 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died after being detained by the country’s morality police. At least 475 people have been killed in the demonstrations amid a heavy security crackdown, according to human rights activists in Iran, a group that has been monitoring the protests since they began. More than 18,000 have been detained by the authorities.
