Jan 7 (Reuters) – Iran hanged two males on Saturday for allegedly killing a member of the safety forces throughout nationwide protests that adopted the demise of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian lady Mahsa Amini on Sept. 16, drawing condemnation from the EU, the USA and different Western nations.
The 2 males executed on Saturday had been convicted of killing a member of the Basij paramilitary power militia. Three others have been sentenced to demise in the identical case, whereas 11 obtained jail sentences.
“Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini, precept perpetrators of the crime that led to the unjust martyrdom of Ruhollah Ajamian have been hanged this morning,” the judiciary stated in an announcement carried by the official IRNA information company.
The most recent executions carry to 4 the variety of protesters formally recognized to have been executed within the aftermath of the unrest.
The European Union’s prime diplomat on Saturday condemned the executions and referred to as on Iran to instantly cease finishing up demise sentences in opposition to protestors, and annul present sentences.
“That is yet one more signal of the Iranian authorities’ violent repression of civilian demonstrations,” Josep Borrell stated in an announcement.
The U.S. particular envoy to Iran, Robert Malley, additionally condemned the executions, saying they adopted “sham trials.” “These executions should cease,” Malley stated on Twitter.
British International Minister James Cleverly on Saturday condemned the executions and urged Iran to “instantly finish the violence in opposition to its personal individuals.”
The French overseas ministry referred to as the executions “revolting” and urged Iranian authorities to heed the “official aspirations of the Iranian individuals.”
The Dutch authorities stated it could summon Iran’s ambassador to the Netherlands for the second time in a month to lift its considerations over the execution of demonstrators, and urged different EU international locations to do the identical.
Amnesty Worldwide stated final month that Iranian authorities are in search of the demise penalty for at the very least 26 others in what it referred to as “sham trials designed to intimidate protesters”.
It stated all of these dealing with demise sentences had been denied the appropriate to ample defence and entry to legal professionals of their selecting. Rights teams say defendants have as a substitute needed to depend on state-appointed attorneys who do little to defend them.
Amnesty stated the court docket that convicted Karami, a 22-year-old karate champion, relied on pressured confessions.
Hosseini’s lawyer Ali Sharifzadeh Ardakani stated in a Dec. 18 tweet that Hosseini had been severely tortured and that confessions extracted underneath torture had no authorized foundation.
He stated Hosseini was crushed along with his arms and toes tied up, kicked within the head till he handed out, and subjected to electrical shocks on totally different elements of his physique.
Iran denies that confessions are extracted underneath torture.
NEW POLICE COMMANDER
Mahsa Amini died in custody in September after being arrested by morality police implementing the Islamic Republic’s obligatory gown code legal guidelines. The protests that ensued characterize one of many greatest challenges to the Islamic Republic since its institution in 1979.
Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday named hardline police official Ahmad Reza Radan as the brand new nationwide police commander, state media reported.
Radan, who was positioned underneath U.S. sanctions in 2010 for human rights violations, has continuously referred to as for strict enforcement of the nation’s Islamic gown code for girls throughout his earlier police positions.
The Basij power, affiliated with Iran’s highly effective Revolutionary Guards, has been behind a lot of the crackdown in opposition to protesters.
Iran, which has blamed the unrest on its overseas foes together with the USA, sees its crackdown of protests as preserving nationwide sovereignty.
The rights group HRANA stated that as of Friday, 517 protesters had been killed throughout unrest, together with 70 minors. It stated 68 members of the safety forces had additionally been killed.
As many as 19,262 protesters are believed to have been arrested, it stated.
Iranian officers have stated that as much as 300 individuals, together with members of the safety forces, have died.
The primary protester recognized to be executed was 23-year-old Mohsen Shekari on Dec. 8, lower than three months after his arrest. He was accused of burning a trash bin, blocking a highway, stabbing a member of the Basij militia with a machete and threatening public security.
Majid Reza Rahnavard, 23, was hanged from a crane in public on Dec. 12 within the northeastern metropolis of Mashhad, lower than a month after his arrest. He was accused of stabbing to demise two Basij members and wounding 4 different individuals in Mashhad.
<a href=”mailto:dubai.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com” goal=”_blank”>dubai.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com</a>
Further reporting by Gilles Guillaume in Paris
Modifying by Simon Cameron-Moore, Frances Kerry, Ros Russell and Matthew Lewis
Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Belief Rules.
