Many dozens of people gathered today near the Iranian Embassy in Parisasking to stop the executions in this country, while they denounced the suppression of the protest movement that has been going on for eight months.

By decision of the local authorities, the protesters were forbidden to gather right outside the embassy building. The mobilization thus took place at a distance of a few tens of meters and its goal was “to end the death penalty and blackmail of the Iranian regime”, as Shirin Ardakani of the Iran Justice Lawyers Collective said.

Those gathered held placards with slogans such as “Stop the executions” and pictures of the three men, Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhasmemi and Said Yagoubi, who were executed on May 19.

“The pace of executions is intensifying, especially in the last 20 days. We are talking about three hangings a day,” said Daria Javaheri-Farsi, a French-Iranian member of the Neda d’Iran (“Voice of Iran”) association. “We denounce the use of the death penalty as a political tool to suppress the Woman, Life Freedom revolution,” he added.

Jean-Claude Chamouiler, a spokesman for Amnesty International, referred to enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, live-action shootings and “all that is happening in Iranian prisons”, stressing that “this situation is unacceptable”.

On a large banner, the gathered stuck the photos of about 50 young people who were “killed by the dictatorship” during the demonstrations.

Many MPs were present at the demonstration, including Socialist Vice-President of the Parliament Valerie Rambo and Environmentalist Marine Todelier.

At least 582 people were executed in Iran last year, according to the non-governmental organizations Iran Human Rights, based in Norway, and ECPM (“Together Against the Death Penalty”), based in Paris. Since the beginning of the year, 218 executions have been carried out in Iran.

The protest movement erupted last September, following the death of 22-year-old Mahsha Amini, who was arrested by the morality police for not following the strict dress code that requires women to cover their hair with a headscarf.