Majid Reza Rahnavard, 23, has been hanged in the middle of the street in Mashad city after being found guilty of stabbing two members of the Basij militia in a “mock trial”, NGOs say
The international condemnation for the execution of Mohsen Shekari, 23, on the 8th, accused of wounding a paramilitary during the protests in Iran, has not softened the government. Last morning, the regime executed a second convict, Majid Reza Rahnavard, also aged 23, and on this occasion it has done so in public, in front of hundreds of civilians and a strict police deposition. The young man was hanged from a mobile crane in the middle of the street in Mashad, a city nearly a thousand kilometers from Tehran, and the image of his hanging body has been widely circulated through national channels, even accompanied by explanatory texts of his crime.
Majid was arrested just 23 days ago, demonstrating the speed of Iranian justice. A week later, he was subjected to a public trial along with more than a thousand detainees, all tried in public squares across the country. The sentence attributed the knife-killing to two members of the Basij militia, a paramilitary force charged with maintaining order and traditions, allegedly under the cover of the popular demonstrations for the death of Masha Amini that have been going on for more than held in the country for ten years. than two months ago. The young woman’s death after being detained by the moral police for wearing the veil incorrectly has led to the disbandment of this unit, at least on paper, as doubts remain that the regime simply gave her a facelift subject.
The European Union, which is holding a council of foreign ministers this Monday, is preparing to approve a round of sanctions against the Iranian government for the execution. Precisely from Brussels, the head of German diplomacy, Annalena Baerbock, has considered that the purpose of these executions is to “intimidate” civilians and dissuade them from taking part in street demonstrations. “These public executions are a blatant attempt to intimidate people, not because they have committed crimes, but simply because they have expressed their views in the street,” he stressed. For his part, Spain’s Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, has expressed his wish for EU countries to take a “strong and common stand” against Iran. “We have already clearly condemned the executions in Iran and we will continue to do so,” he stressed.
Organizations such as Amnesty International and Iran Human Rights believe that dozens of Iranians, also sentenced to death for their involvement in the protests, are at risk of execution in the coming days. The NGOs stress that at least 14,000 people have been arrested in the protests, according to UN figures, many of them convicted in “show trials”. Indeed, Amnesty International fears that the next victim has already been named and aged: Mahan Sadrat, 22, accused of displaying a knife during the demonstrations, although the suspect has repeatedly denied this. The organization reported this morning that Sadrat has been transferred to a prison near Tehran, “raising fears of an imminent execution,” a UK spokesman said.
The conviction of Majid Reza Rahnavard, the last to be executed, is also the result, according to the NGOs, of a “pantomime” and confessions “coerced”. The same they say about other prisoners waiting on the rope, prosecuted “without access to a lawyer” or on the basis of signed statements after “torture” or threats to relatives, who are sometimes “forced to testify against” the prisoners. After being hanged in front of the crowd, Majid’s body has been deposited in a cemetery without his relatives being informed of the execution or burial.
Source: La Verdad
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