PARIS — A doctor, rap artists, and a footballer are among
around two dozen Iranians who risk being hanged as Tehran uses capital
punishment as an intimidation tactic to quell protests, rights groups say.
اضافة اعلان
The executions in the past week of
Mohsen Shekari and Majidreza Rahnavard, both 23 and the first people put to death over the
protests, sparked an outcry, especially as Rahnavard was hanged from a crane in
public rather than in prison.
But campaigners warn that more executions will
inevitably follow without tougher international action, with a dozen more
people already sentenced to death over the protests and a similar number
charged with crimes that could see them hanged.
“Unless the political cost of the executions is
increased significantly, we will be facing mass executions,” said Mahmood
Amiry-Moghaddam, director of the Norway-based Iran Human Rights group.
He accused Iran’s leaders of using executions to
“spread fear among people and save the regime from the nationwide protests”.
The largely peaceful protests sparked by the death
in September of
Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for allegedly violating
Iran’s strict dress code for women, are posing the biggest challenge to the
Islamic republic since the 1979 revolution.
There have been no reports of a slackening in
protest activity in recent days, including after the executions, but the
movement has been marked by phases of more and less intense demonstrations.
Authorities describe those facing death sentences as
“rioters” who are being judged in full accordance with the country’s sharia
law.
But activists express alarm over the use of vaguely
worded sharia legal charges against protesters, such as “enmity against God,”
“corruption on earth” and “armed rebellion”, all of which are capital crimes in
Iran.
‘Unfair trial, torture’
Amnesty International
currently confirms 11 cases of death sentences issued against individuals over
the protests, and another nine cases where individuals have been charged with
crimes that could see them given the death penalty.
One young protester, Sahand Nourmohammad-Zadeh, was
sentenced to death over charges — which he denied — that he did no more than
tear down highway railings and set fire to rubbish bins and tires, Amnesty
said.
The group said it was concerned another young man,
Mahan Sadrat, 22, could be executed “imminently” after being sentenced to death
in a “grossly unfair trial” over accusations of using a knife to attack an
individual.
Mohammad Ghobadlou, aged 22, was sentenced to death
on charges of running over police officials with a car, killing one and
injuring several others, Amnesty said, adding it had “serious concerns” he was
subjected to torture and other abuse in jail.
Saman Seydi, a young Kurdish rapper, was sentenced
to death on charges of firing a pistol three times into the air during
protests, adding it had received information he had also been subjected to
torture to extract forced confessions.
Before his arrest, Seydi had posted material on
Instagram in support of the protests, while his rap songs had also been
critical of the authorities.
Hamid Ghare-Hasanlou, a doctor, and his wife
Farzaneh Ghare-Hasanlou were on their way to the funeral of a killed protester
when they were “caught up in the chaos” of a fatal assault on a member of the
Basij militia, Amnesty said.
Hamid Ghare-Hasanlou was sentenced to death and his
wife to 25 years in prison, with the court relying on incriminating statements
from his wife which Amnesty said were coerced and later retracted by her in
court.
Her husband was tortured in custody and hospitalized
with broken ribs, it said.
Those who face the death penalty after being charged
with capital crimes include Toomaj Salehi, 32, a prominent rapper who was
charged “solely in connection with critical music and social media posts,”
Amnesty said, adding that he had been tortured in detention.
The professional footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani, 26,
is in a similar position after being charged over the deaths of three security
officials in November in the city of Isfahan, it said.
The world union of professional footballers
FIFPRO said it was “shocked and sickened” by the reports he faces death.
Executed ‘at any moment’
Campaigners are seeking to
highlight all individuals facing the death penalty in the hope that increased
scrutiny on specific cases can help spare lives.
But they warn the executions are often sudden.
Rahnavard was hanged just 23 days after his arrest
and shortly after a last meeting with his mother, who was given no inkling her
son was about to be put to death.
Activists were also unaware of Shekari’s case until
his execution was announced by state media.
Amnesty said Iranian authorities are issuing,
upholding and carrying out death sentences in a “speedy manner” and there is a
“serious risk” that people whose death sentences have not been made public
could be executed “at any moment.”
“The executions of two people connected to the
protests in Iran are appalling, and we are extremely worried for the lives of
others who have been similarly sentenced to death,” the office of the UN high
commissioner for human rights told AFP.
It added that Iran had “ignored” its pleas not to carry out
the executions.
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