Another Demonstrator Executed in Iran
In the wake of the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022, nationwide protests erupted in Iran, leading to the regime’s imprisonment of many individuals, with some being sentenced to death. Now, another protester has been executed for allegedly running over a police officer.
The International Society for Human Rights (IGFM) reported that Iran has carried out another death sentence in connection with the protests following the death of Mahsa Jina Amini in the autumn of 2022. The 24-year-old Mohammad Ghobadlou was executed, despite claims from his lawyer that he suffered from mental illness and was tortured while in custody.
Ghobadlou had been convicted of “corruption on earth” and the alleged killing of a police officer. He was one of the first Iranians to be detained during the nationwide protests that followed Amini’s death.
Execution initially suspended
In February 2023, Iran’s Supreme Court granted a suspension of Ghobadlou’s execution and referred the case to another court. However, on Tuesday, the court approved the imposition of the death penalty. The execution of Ghobadlou’s death sentence was carried out “this morning after a 487-day legal proceeding,” stated the Iranian judiciary on its Misan Online website.
The death of Mahsa Jina Amini sparked international protests. The young woman died in police custody in September 2022, allegedly for violating the mandatory hijab law. Human rights activists claim that about 500 people were killed during the crackdown on protests against Amini’s death. Ghobadlou’s execution marks the eighth related to the protests since the beginning of the year.
Opaque trials and torture
According to authorities, the Kurdish individual Farhad Salimi was also executed on Tuesday. According to IGFM, he had been imprisoned for 14 years prior to the execution. Salimi was reportedly denied the opportunity to see his family before the death penalty was carried out. IGFM warns that several other Kurdish prisoners are at risk of execution.
After China, Iran is the country with the highest number of annual executions worldwide. Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International criticize the lack of transparency in the country’s legal proceedings and the frequent use of torture to extract forced confessions, which often lead to death sentences.