Jan 7 (Reuters) – Iran hanged two men on Saturday for allegedly killing a security official during nationwide protests that followed the death of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini on Sept. 16.
The two men executed on Saturday had been convicted of killing a member of the Basij paramilitary force militia. Three others have been sentenced to death in the same case, while 11 received prison sentences.
“Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini, principle perpetrators of the crime that led to the unjust martyrdom of Ruhollah Ajamian were hanged this morning,” the judiciary said in a statement carried by the official IRNA news agency.
Jan. 6, 2023
Reports from #Iran say the #IslamicRepublic has executed
22-year-old Karate champion #MohammadMehdiKarami and 20-year-old #MohammadHosseini pic.twitter.com/QU4jGepAhk— Kayhan Life (@KayhanLife) January 7, 2023
[aesop_image img=”https://kayhanlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2023-01-07T093140Z_197803959_OWSPLP1X2N4DE7LZJCODANDQN2HRGN7_RTRMADP_BASEIMAGE-960X540_IRAN-PROTEST-CONFLICT.jpg” panorama=”off” align=”center” lightbox=”off” captionsrc=”custom” caption=”Mohammad Mehdi Karami 22-year-old from the city of Bijar was arrested in Karaj and executed early this morning .In the picture Mohammad celebrating a holiday with his family. REUTERS./7/01/2023
” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]
The latest executions bring to four the number of protesters officially known to have been executed in the aftermath of the unrest.
Amnesty International said last month that Iranian authorities are seeking the death penalty for at least 26 others in what it called “sham trials designed to intimidate protesters in the popular uprising that has rocked the country”.
It said all of those facing death sentences had been denied the right to adequate defence and access to lawyers of their choosing. Rights groups say defendants have instead had to rely on state-appointed attorneys who do little to defend them.
Amnesty said the court that convicted Karami, a 22-year-old karate champion, relied on forced confessions.
The murderous Islamic Republic regime has executed two more protesters #MohammadMehdiKarami and #MohammadHosseini.
Shame on the global community and leaders for not stopping the IR’s atrocities. @UN_HRC #StopExecutionsInIran #MahsaAmini #IranRevoIution https://t.co/9nbo3NnDW5
— Nazanin Boniadi (@NazaninBoniadi) January 7, 2023
Hosseini’s lawyer Ali Sharifzadeh Ardakani said in a Dec. 18 tweet that Hosseini had been severely tortured and that confessions extracted under torture had no legal basis.
He said Hosseini was beaten with his hands and feet tied up, kicked in the head until he passed out, and subjected to electric shocks on different parts of his body.
Iran denies that confessions are extracted under torture.
Mahsa Amini died in custody in September after being arrested by morality police enforcing the Islamic Republic’s mandatory dress code laws. The protests that ensued represent one of the biggest challenges to the Islamic Republic since its establishment in 1979.
The Basij force, affiliated with Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards, has been behind much of the crackdown.
ANALYSIS – Basij Force: Specialists in Cracking Down on Dissent
Iran, which has blamed the unrest on its foreign foes including the United States, sees its crackdown of protests as preserving national sovereignty.
The rights group HRANA said that as of Friday, 517 protesters had been killed during unrest, including 70 minors. It said 68 members of the security forces had also been killed.
As many as 19,262 protesters are believed to have been arrested, it said.
Iranian officials have said that up to 300 people, including members of the security forces, have died.
The first protester known to be executed was 23-year-old Mohsen Shekari on Dec. 8, less than three months after his arrest. He was accused of burning a trash bin, blocking a road, stabbing a member of the Basij militia with a machete and threatening public safety.
Majid Reza Rahnavard, 23, was hanged from a crane in public on Dec. 12 in the northeastern city of Mashhad, less than a month after his arrest. He was accused of stabbing to death two Basij members and wounding four other people in Mashhad.
([email protected], Editing by William Mallard, Simon Cameron-Moore and Frances Kerry)
