Despite international outrage over the application of the death penalty to those involved in the protests, Iran decided for 3 months to publicly execute a second man convicted of participating in the marches on Monday. by hanging it on a construction crane.
Majidreza Rahnavard was sentenced to death by a court in the city of Mashhad (northeast) for kill two members of the security forces. He was hanged in public and not inside prison, reported Mizan Online, the news agency for the judiciary.
It’s about second execution related to the protestfollowing the Thursday hanging of Mohsen Shekari, a 23-year-old convicted of assaulting and injuring a paramilitary.
Mizan Online also released footage of Rahnavard’s execution, which shows a man with his hands tied behind his back. hanging from a rope attached to a crane.
“The public execution of a young protester 23 days after his arrest is yet another serious crime committed by the rulers of the Islamic Republic and a significant escalation in the level of violence against protesters,” Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of the Norwegian NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR), told AFP.
“A Forced Confession”
“Majidreza Rahnavard was sentenced to death on basis of a forced confessionafter a grossly unfair trial and a show trial,” he added.
Execution on Monday is the first in public as part of the protests triggered by the death on September 16 of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish girl who died after being arrested by the morality police for violating the strict dress code that women in the country must respect.
Since its creation in 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been rocked by several waves of protests, but this crisis unprecedented for its durationdue to the fact that it takes place in several provinces, involves different ethnic groups and social classes and includes direct calls for the end of the regime.
Iran’s judiciary said it had so far handed down 11 death sentences in connection with the protests, described by authorities as “riots”. But activists say a dozen more people face the death penalty.
international criticism
“No due process. Show trials. That’s how they want to stop protests across the country,” said Omid Memarian, Iranian analyst at Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWIN).
Rahnavard was arrested Nov. 19 as he tried to flee the country, according to Mizan. According to unverified information, he is 23 years old.
According to Amnesty International, 22-year-old Mahan Sadrat, sentenced to death after a summary and “unfair” trial on 3 November, was transferred on Saturday to Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj, near Tehran, “which he fears an imminent execution“.
Was found guilty of drawing a knife during protestswhich he flatly denied in court.
Amnesty has also warned that the life of another young man is in danger, Sahand Nourmohammadzadeh, sentenced to death on 6 November for “demolishing the railings of a highway and burn garbage cans and tires“.
Others sentenced to the same sentence include rapper Saman Seyedi, 24, from Iran’s Kurdish minority. Another rapper, Toomaj Salehi, who has supported protests against the regime, is accused of “corruption on earth” and faces the death sentence, Iranian judicial authorities confirmed last month.
The United States, several European Union countries and the United Kingdom condemned Shekari’s execution last week, and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock denounced a “limitless contempt for human life”.
But human rights activists and NGOs are calling for a stronger reaction, including the severing of diplomatic ties with Iran and the expulsion of ambassadors from European capitals.
new protests
Despite this, the executions have provoked new protests in the country, such as those on Saturday when silent and candle marches were held in many cities of the Persian nation to condemn the first hanging.
This Monday, after learning of the new execution, Iranian activists they called again to complainwith mobilizations until Wednesday with night vigils.
The riots started over the death of the 22-year-old Kurdish girl after she was arrested by the Morality Police for not wearing the headscarf properly, but have evolved and now protesters are calling for an end to the Islamic Republic founded by Ayatollah Ruholá Khomeini in 1979 .
It concerns the biggest protests against the regime of the ayatollahs for decades and so far the demonstrators, especially young people and women, show no sign of giving up.
Source: AFP and EFE
Source: Clarin
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.