Iran: At least 20 protesters face the death penalty

A doctor, rappers, a football player is between approx 20 Iranians where are in danger of being hangedwith Tehran using the death penalty as an intimidation tactic to quell protests, according to human rights groups.

The first two executions linked to the defiance movement that has rocked Iran for three months, those of Mohsen Sekari on December 8 and Majidreza Rahnavard on December 12, both 23, sparked an outcry and fresh Western sanctions, especially since Majidreza Rahnavard was hanged in public instead of in prison.

But activists are calling for strong international action to prevent further executions.

“As long as the political cost of executions is not much more significant, we will be faced with mass executions,” warns Mahmoud Amiri-Moghadam, director of the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR), which accuses Iranian authorities of using executions to “sow fear and save the regime”.

Iran has been rocked by protests that erupted after the September 16 death of Mahsha Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin who died after being arrested by morality police for violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code.

Since its inception in 1979, the Islamic Republic has often been rocked by outbursts of anger. But this crisis is unprecedented in terms of its duration, its dispersion across the provinces, the involvement of different ethnic groups and social classes, and the direct calls for the fall of the regime.

According to Amnesty International11 other people have been sentenced to death in connection with the protests and nine face charges that could carry the death penalty.

Amnesty reports on the case of a young man, Shahad Nurmohamad Zadeh, who was sentenced to death on 6 November after being found guilty of “destroying a motorway parapet and setting rubbish bins and tires on fire”.

Today a recently arrested protester, Mahan Sadrat, was “saved from execution”, his lawyer announced.

Amnesty had said it feared the “imminent” execution of the 22-year-old man, who was sentenced to death after a summary and “unfair” trial on November 3 after being found guilty of brandishing a knife during protests.

Mohammad Ghobadiu, 22, was sentenced to death for running over police officers with a car, causing one death and several injuries. According to Amnesty, which says it is “gravely concerned”, he was tortured in prison.

So did rapper Shaman Seydi, aka Shaman Yasin, who supported the challenge movement on social networking sites and is accused of firing into the air. According to Amnesty, he was tortured in order to extract a confession from him.

Hamid Gare-Hasanlou, a doctor, and his wife Farzaneh Gare-Hasanlou were on their way to a protester’s funeral when they were “caught up in the chaos” of a deadly attack on a member of the Basij militia, according to Amnesty.

Hamid Ghare-Hasanlou was sentenced to death and his wife to 25 years in prison, with the court relying on statements which Amnesty said were blackmailed by his wife. Her husband was tortured while in custody and hospitalized with broken ribs.

Among the people at risk of the death penalty is rapper Tumaj Salehi, 32, who is accused “only of criticism expressed in his music and on social networks”, adds Amnesty, which also speaks of torture.

Professional soccer player Amir Nasr Azandani, 26, also faces the death penalty after being charged in the November deaths of three security agents in the city of Isfahan, according to the NGO. The International Professional Footballers’ Federation (Fifpro) said it was “shocked and disgusted” by the prospect of the death penalty.

Executions are often sudden, with authorities announcing and carrying out death sentences “in a swift manner”, Amnesty said, warning of a “serious risk” for people whose death sentences have not been publicly announced and who could be executed “at any time”.

Majidreza Rahnavard was hanged just 23 days after his arrest and shortly after a final meeting with his mother, who was unaware that her son was to be executed.

“The executions of two people in connection with the protests in Iran are shocking and we are extremely concerned for the lives of other people who have been sentenced to death in the same way,” the United Nations High Representative for Human Rights told AFP.

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