Authorities in Iran on Friday (May 19) executed three men over protests that erupted over Mahsa Amini’s custodial death, said Iran’s judiciary. The men were convicted of violence against the Islamic republic’s security forces.
Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaghoubi were convicted of “moharebeh”, or “war against God”, for drawing a gun during a demonstration in the central city of Isfahan, leading to the deaths of three members of the security forces, the judiciary’s Mizan Online news website said.
Twenty-two-year-old Mahsa Amini was detained by Iran’s morality police over her ‘inappropriate’ attire she died in custody on September 16 last year. This had sparked huge, nationwide protests that rocked the Iranian regime.
During the protests, which Tehran generally labelled as foreign-instigated “riots”, thousands of Iranians were arrested and hundreds killed including dozens of security forces.
Friday’s hangings bring the total of Iranians executed in connection with the protests to seven.
All three were arrested in November and were handed death sentences in January.
They were also charged with membership of “illegal groups with the intention of disrupting national security and collusion leading to crimes against internal security”, Mizan said.
Mizan added that “evidence and documents in the case and the clear statements made by the accused” showed that “the shootings carried out by these three people led to the martyrdom of three security forces”.
The cases had caused international concern including in Australia where some of Kazemi’s family live.
Mohammad Hashemi, cousin of Kazemi had written an open letter to Penny Wong, Australia’s Foreign Minister and asked for her support.
“Majid is only 30 years old. He is a compassionate, loving, and strong-willed person. He, like many other Iranians, participated in peaceful demonstrations to raise his voice and demand change,” Hashemi wrote in the letter, published on the petition website change.org.
Iran in known for executing more people each year than any other nation except China, according to Amnesty International. Just last week, Iranian authorities carried out executions of four prisoners. This prompted international condemnation.
There has been a surge in executions since the start of the year. This has alarmed campaigners.
Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) and Paris-based Together against the Death Penalty, said in a joint report in April that the authorities hanged 75 per cent more people in 2022 than in the previous year.
At least 582 people were executed in Iran last year, the highest number of executions in the country since 2015 and well above the 333 recorded in 2021, the two groups said.
(With inputs from agencies)
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