PARIS —
Iran on Monday executed a second man in
connection with protests that have shaken the government for months, defying an
international outcry over its use of capital punishment against those involved
in the movement.
اضافة اعلان
Majidreza Rahnavard, 23, had been sentenced to death by a
court in the city of Mashhad for killing two members of the security forces with
a knife, and wounding four other people, the judiciary's
Mizan Online news
agency reported.
It said he was hanged in public in the city, rather than
inside prison.
He was executed just over three weeks after he was arrested
in November, rights groups said.
The hanging also came only four days after Mohsen Shekari,
also 23, was executed on Thursday on charges of wounding a member of the
security forces in the first case of the death penalty being used against a
protester.
Iran calls the protests "riots" and says they have
been encouraged by its foreign foes.
Mizan published images of Rahnavard's execution, showing a
man with his hands tied behind his back hanging from a rope attached to a
crane. The execution took place before dawn and there was no sign that a
significant number of people witnessed it.
The director of Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights, Mahmood
Amiry-Moghaddam, said Rahnavard "was sentenced to death based on coerced
confessions after a grossly unfair process and a show trial".
"The public execution of a young protester, 23 days
after his arrest, is another serious crime committed by the Islamic republic's
leaders and a significant escalation of the level of violence against
protesters," he told AFP.
New EU sanctions
The protests were sparked by the September 16 death in
custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, a Kurdish-Iranian arrested by the morality police
for allegedly breaching the Islamic republic's strict dress code for women.
The protests represent the biggest challenge to the regime
since the shah's ouster in 1979 and have been met with a crackdown that
activists say aims to instill public fear.
EU ministers meeting in Brussels were expected Monday to
impose fresh sanctions on Iran over the crackdown on the protesters.
EU foreign policy chief
Josep Borrell said the bloc was
going to "approve a very, very tough package of sanctions".
"These executions are a blatant attempt to intimidate
people, not for committing crimes but just for taking their opinions to the
streets, just for wanting to live in freedom," German Foreign Minister
Annalena Baerbock said.
Iran sought to preempt the EU move by imposing sanctions of
its own against the heads of the UK's domestic spy agency and military, along
with British and German political figures.
US-based dissident Masih Alinejad charged that
"Majidreza Rahnavard's crime was protesting the murder of Mahsa Amini.
"The regime's method of dealing with protests is
execution," said Alinejad, adding: "EU, recall your
ambassadors."
The office of the UN rights commissioner said it was
"appalled" by the news of Rahnavard's execution, noting it came
"just over 3 weeks after his arrest".
Reports ahead of the execution had described Rahnavard as a
young fitness fanatic who was a keen amateur wrestler and had won competitions.
Rights groups including IHR have said images have shown he
was beaten in custody and forced into a purported confession broadcast on state
media.
The protest monitor social media channel 1500tasvir said his
family had been informed of the execution only after it was carried out.
It published pictures of a last meeting between the
condemned man and his mother, saying she had left with no idea he was about to
die.
'Risk of mass execution'
Iran's use of the death penalty is part of a crackdown that
IHR says has seen the security forces kill at least 458 people.
According to the
UN, at least 14,000 have been arrested.
Iran is already the world's most prolific user of the death
penalty after China, Amnesty International says.
Public executions are however highly unusual in the Islamic
republic, and one in July was described by IHR as the first in two years.
Prior to the two executions, Iran's judiciary said it had
issued death sentences to 11 people in connection with the protests, but
campaigners say around a dozen others face charges that could see them also
receive the death penalty.
Amnesty on Saturday warned that the lives of two more young
men sentenced to death — Mahan Sadrat and
Sahand Nourmohammadzadeh — were both
at imminent risk.
Amiry-Moghaddam warned of "a serious risk of mass
execution of protesters" and urged a strong international "response
that deters the Islamic republic leaders from more executions".
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