At least two new executions could take place in Iran, according to several human rights groups. The international outcry provoked by the killing on Thursday of a 23-year-old man convicted of attacking and wounding a paramilitary will not seem to be enough to stop the wave of repression in Iran.
Amnesty International says Iran is ‘preparing to execute’ Mahan Sadrat, 22, after a speedy and ‘unfair’ trial in which the young man was found guilty of drawing a knife during the protests, charges that he denied in court.
No lawyer
Sentenced to death on November 3, he was transferred on Saturday to Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj, near Tehran, “raising fears of imminent execution”, said the London-based NGO.
According to IHR, this sentence has been confirmed by the Supreme Court, which makes it enforceable. “Like all the other death row inmates, he was denied all access to his lawyer” throughout the legal proceedings.
The Islamic Republic is rocked by protests sparked by the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd who died three days after her arrest by vice police. She accused him of having violated the dress code requiring women to wear the veil in public.
At least 458 people have been killed in the crackdown on the protests, according to a latest report from the Oslo-based human rights group Iran Human Rights (IHR), and at least 14,000 have been arrested according to the UN.
sad record
Amnesty International has also warned that the life of another young man, Sahand Nourmohammadzadeh, was in danger after he was sentenced to death on 6 November for “tearing down highway guardrails and setting fire to bins and tyres”.
His death sentence “was pronounced after an accelerated procedure which did not resemble a trial”, according to the NGO.
Amnesty and IHR further mentioned the case of Hamid Gharehasanlou, a doctor on death row, who they say was tortured in detention and whose wife was coerced into testifying against him.
In total, ten people were sentenced to death for their participation in the demonstrations, described as “riots” by the authorities, the Iranian judicial authority said. For the director of IHR, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the international response must be “stronger than ever” to prevent further executions.
Iran executes more convicts than any other country except China, according to Amnesty International. More than 500 people were executed there in 2022, according to IHR.