human rights
Two men hanged for blasphemy in Iran
This photo released by the Iranian President’s Office
© Iranian Presidency Office/APA Images/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
Already 199 prisoners have been executed in Iran this year alone. Now two more defendants have been hanged. The death penalty in the country has been criticized for years.
Two men have been executed in Iran on charges of blasphemy. This was announced by the Mizan judicial authority on its web portal. According to the state news site Irna, the accused were hanged early in the morning.
The judiciary had accused the men named Jusuf Mehrdad and Sadrollah Faseri Sare of having spread blasphemous insults against Islam and the Prophet in chat groups, among other things. The accused are also said to have had contact with anti-religious networks. The Mizan judicial authority also mentions a video of a Koran being burned on Mehrdad’s cell phone.
Human rights activists have been criticizing the use of the death penalty in Iran for years. However, executions for blasphemy are extremely rare in the country ruled by Shia clerics. As the human rights organization Hengaw reported just a few days ago, 199 prisoners have already been executed in Iran this year.