Iran carries out 1st execution over stir

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New Delhi, December 8

Iran carried out the first execution over recent anti-government unrest on Thursday when it hanged a man convicted of injuring a security guard with a knife and blocking a street in Tehran.

Amnesty International fears 21 more will soon be put to death in what it called “sham trials designed to intimidate those participating in the popular uprising that has rocked Iran”.

Worldwide Condemnation

The execution must be met with strong reactions otherwise we will be facing daily executions of protesters. —Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, Director, Iran human rights

The world cannot turn a blind eye to the abhorrent violence committed by the Iranian regime against its own people. —James Cleverly, UK foreign minister

The Iranian regime’s contempt for humanity is limitless. —Annalena Baerbock, German Foreign Minister

Iran is among the world’s top executioner and according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, it put to death over 400 this year before protests broke out in September. In signs that Iran will bear down harshly on the protesters, the case of the protester, Mohsen Shekari, was assigned to Revolutionary Court’s Judge Abolghassem Salavati, who has been sanctioned by the US for passing harsh sentences. Mizan news agency, run by Iran’s judiciary, said Shekari was convicted for blocking a street in Tehran and attacking with a machete a security force personnel, who required stitches for his wounds.

It suggested that the man was offered money by an acquaintance to attack the security forces. This version dovetails with the Iran Government’s charge that foreign countries have fomented the unrest. An allegation like this touches a raw nerve because Iran had earlier suffered a CIA coup following street protests in 1953.

The execution has kindled fears of more such executions with activists calling for strong reactions otherwise “we will be facing daily executions of protesters”. At least 475 persons have been killed in the demonstrations and over 18,000 have been detained, according to human rights activists.

475 persons killed in demonstrations
18,000 protesters detained
400 executed this year before unrest broke out in Sept