Iran said Thursday it executed a prisoner convicted for a crime allegedly committed during the country바카라s ongoing nationwide protests, the first such death penalty carried out by Tehran.
Death penalty to suppress political revolution
The execution comes as other detainees also face the possibility of the death penalty for their involvement in the protests, which began in mid-September, first as an outcry against Iran바카라s morality police. The protests have expanded into one of the most serious challenges to Iran바카라s theocracy since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Activists warn that others could also be put to death in the near future, saying that at least a dozen people so far have received death sentences over their involvement in the demonstrations.
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Mohsen Shekari's trial
The Mizan news agency, run by Iran바카라s judiciary, identified the executed protester as Mohsen Shekari. It said he had been convicted in Tehran바카라s Revolutionary Court, which typically holds closed-door cases. The tribunals have been internationally criticized for not allowing those on trial to pick their own lawyers or even see the evidence against them.
Shekari was accused of blocking a street in Tehran and attacking with a machete a member of the security forces, who required stitches for his wounds, the agency said. The Mizan report also alleged that Shekari said he had been offered money by an acquaintance to attack the security forces.
Iran바카라s government for months has been trying to allege 바카라 without offering evidence 바카라 that foreign countries have fomented the unrest. Protesters say they are angry over the collapse of the economy, heavy-handed policing and the entrenched power of the country바카라s Islamic clergy.
Mizan said Shekari had been arrested on Sept. 25, then convicted on Nov. 20 on the charge of 바카라moharebeh,바카라 a Farsi word meaning 바카라waging war against God.바카라 That charge has been levied against others in the decades since 1979 and carries the death penalty. Mizan said an appeal by Shekari바카라s lawyer against the sentence failed.
After his execution, Iranian state television aired a heavily edited package showing the courtroom and parts of Shekari바카라s trial, presided over by Judge Abolghassem Salavati.
Salavati faces U.S. sanctions for meting out harsh punishments. 바카라Salavati alone has sentenced more than 100 political prisoners, human right activists, media workers and others seeking to exercise freedom of assembly to lengthy prison terms as well as several death sentences,바카라 the U.S. Treasury said in sanctioning him in 2019.
바카라Judges on these Revolutionary Courts, including Salavati, have acted as both judge and prosecutor, deprived prisoners of access to lawyers and intimidated defendants.바카라
International reactions
The execution 바카라must be met with strong reactions otherwise we will be facing daily executions of protesters,바카라 wrote Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the director of the Oslo-based activist group Iran Human Rights. 바카라This execution must have rapid practical consequences internationally.바카라
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock condemned Shekari바카라s execution in a Twitter post, saying 바카라the Iranian regime바카라s contempt for humanity is limitless.바카라
Likewise, global human rights groups including Amnesty International and the United Nations condemned the "horrific" execution and called on the Iranian regime to stop using capital punishment as a means to suppress protests. Rights watchdogs also denounced Shekari's court trial as a "sham" and called for the abolition of death penalty.
Anti-hijab protests in Iran
Iran has been rocked by protests since the Sept. 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died after being detained by the country바카라s morality police. At least 475 people have been killed in the demonstrations amid a heavy-handed security crackdown, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group that바카라s been monitoring the protests since they began. Over 18,000 have been detained by authorities.
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Iran is one of the world바카라s top executioners. It typically executes prisoners by hanging. Already, Amnesty International said it obtained a document signed by one senior Iranian police commander asking an execution for one prisoner be 바카라completed 바카라in the shortest possible time바카라 and that his death sentence be carried out in public as 바카라a heart-warming gesture towards the security forces.바카라바카라
(With inputs from AP)
