Iman Sabzikar, a laborer convicted of murdering a policeman last February in the city of Shiraz (southern Iran), was hanged early this morning at the scene of the crime
Iran carried out its first public execution in more than two years on Saturday, with the hanging of a man convicted of murdering a policeman, AFP reported, citing an NGO.
Iman Sabzikar, a laborer convicted of killing a policeman last February in the city of Shiraz (southern Iran), was hanged early this morning at the scene of the crime, the Norwegian NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) said based on information transmitted by state media in Iran.
Sabzikar’s death sentence was upheld in early July by the country’s Supreme Court.
“The repetition of this brutal punishment in public view is intended to terrorize and intimidate people into not protesting,” said Mahmoud Amiri-Moghadam, director of the IHR. He called on the international community to react strongly and protest against this “medieval” practice.
Images released on social media purporting to capture the public execution show a man in a prisoner’s uniform suspended several meters above the ground by a rope attached to a crane.
Executions in Iran are usually carried out in prisons.
Public executions are a deterrent, especially when it comes to the killing of a member of the security forces, notes the specific NGO, underlining that the last public execution in Iran took place on June 11, 2020.
The IHR organization fears that four other men who have been sentenced to death for killing policemen (in separate cases) will meet the same fate. At the same time, he notes that the number of executions in Iran has doubled in the first half of the year compared to the corresponding period in 2021.
In recent weeks, activists have expressed concern about the growing crackdown in Iran as the economic crisis sparks a wave of protests. Among others, well-known intellectuals and filmmakers have been arrested.
RES-EMP
View the news feed and get the latest news.
