December 21, 2022

Behind Iran's death penalty against protestors

topic:	Death Penalty
located:	Iran
editor:	Gloria Rosary

In Iran, certain crimes like murder, rape, terrorism and drug trafficking are punishable by death. Execution is also used for political offenses, like ‘corruption on Earth’ and enmity against God, as a means for the regime to suppress its opponents. 

The use of the death penalty is not limited to this time; Sadeq Qotbzade, who once served as a close aide of former-Supreme Leader Khomeini, was executed in 1982 after being accused of plotting to overthrow the Iranian Government and kill Khomeini. Similarly, in 1988, the government carried out a mass execution of political prisoners. The number of executions is not definitively known, but according to estimates from former Iranian officials and lists compiled by human rights groups, Iranian authorities have executed between 2,800 and 5,000 prisoners in at least 32 cities.

This execution of opponents of the regime continues to be exacted today. At least 251 executions were performed from January to June 2022, based on Iran Human Rights (IHR). However, the two recent executions of Mohsen Shekari and Majid Reza Rahnavard, linked to the recent anti-government protests, have been different from those previously carried out.

These two young protesters were both accused of “Moharebeh,” or “war against God” and the Islamic order. However, some clerics and lawyers contradicted that the protestors’ actions merit this charge, stating that instead, the demonstrators protested for their liberties, but the security forces prevented them from exercising their rights. 

Mohsen Shekari, the first protester, was hanged on 8 December under the charge of being a "rioter" who blocked one of the main roads in Tehran in September and wounded a member of a paramilitary force with a machete. Though the culprit survived and Shekari was not guilty of murder, the execution was carried out quickly. His arrest, trial and execution took less than two and a half months. This period was even shorter for the case of Rahnavard, who was hanged just 23 days after his arrest.

The accused are not able to defend themselves against the law since they are denied the right to a lawyer of their choice. Instead, a mock trial and unfair process are staged, in which they are told to confess to their crime against their will to save their own lives. Their sentences are then based on the forced confessions, which are aired on national television after their execution. The families of the executed victims are not informed until after the punishment is exacted. In the case of Rahnavard, his family was then given the name of a cemetery and a plot number where security agents were burying his body. 

According to the Volunteer Committee to Follow-Up on the Situation of Detainees, at least 37 more people have been put on death row this year. The global Media should continue to apply pressure on the Iranian regime to release detainees as this method was one of the main reasons for the release of Hossein Ronaghi and several other prisoners. Also, foreign politicians can take political sponsorship for prisoners at high risk of execution, as German Parliament Members have already done in the past.

Image by Mojtaba Zabihi 

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