The Iranian regime on Monday sentenced soccer player Amir Nasr Azadani to 26 years in prison for the alleged murder of three members of the security forces, collusion to commit crimes and membership in illegal groups. The news of Azadani’s arrest in December, in the middle of the World Cup, and his possible death sentence, drew criticism from football associations and human rights organizations around the world. “They kill on the street with guns and in prison with the law,” said lawyer Saeid Dehghan on Twitter on Saturday about the consequences of the protests in the country. In addition, three more death sentences were announced this Monday.
Heavy police repression has caused nearly 500 deaths, including civilians and members of the security forces, and nearly 20,000 detainees since young Mahsa Amini died in police custody on September 16 after he was arrested for not wearing the correct Islamic veil. In parallel with the harsh reaction from the streets, the courts are speeding up sentences in trials that the NGO Amnesty International (AI) and opposition groups have labeled “farts” and “unfair”. The regime has already handed down 16 death sentences and four public executions – the last two over the weekend – in an attempt to stem the protests that have roiled the country since September.
The last three death sentences were announced on Monday. Saleh Mirhashemi, Majid Kazemi Sheikh Shabani and Saeed Yaqoubi have been sentenced to death for moharebe – enmity against God – after being accused of killing three Basijis (paramilitary security forces) in the city of Isfahan on November 16, according to the Mizan News agency.
The three convicts join 13 others who have been sentenced to death by hanging in recent months for allegedly killing members of the security forces, but also for injuring police officers or blocking roads, according to Iranian authorities. Among the inmates is an 18-year-old boy, Arshia Takdastan, who was sentenced to hanging last week on charges of leading a mob that demonstrated in Noushar city’s main square and committing criminal acts during the riots.
Iranian authorities have so far executed four people accused of taking part in the protests: Mohsen Shekari, 23, was hanged on December 8 for allegedly stabbing a Basij, blocking a road and creating terror in Tehran . Just four days later, a second protester, Majid Reza Rahnavard, accused of killing two security officers, was publicly executed. And on Saturday, Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Mohammad Hosseini were executed for the alleged murder of a member of the paramilitary security forces.
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The executions have provoked strong international opposition. The European Union, among others, has expressed its shock and has repeatedly called on Tehran to lift the death sentences against the demonstrators immediately. Several countries, including the EU, have summoned Iranian ambassadors to express their condemnation of the executions. The trials have been questioned by human rights organizations such as AI and the UN, which have denounced the trials as “farce”, “unfair” and “revenge”.
A woman protests outside the Iranian embassy in Mexico City December 19 while holding photos of soccer player Amir Nasr-Azadani.NurPhoto (NurPhoto via Getty Images)
In addition, Iranian activists have denounced that the trials are being held in record time behind closed doors, with confessions extracted under torture and in many cases without the presence of lawyers.
Rahnavard, publicly executed, was sentenced in a one-day trial. And the family of Karami, who was hanged on Saturday, denounced that they were not allowed to choose a lawyer and that the lawyer chosen for them did not take their calls.
In addition to the death sentences, there have been an undetermined number of prison terms, of which several hundred are known. In mid-December, Iranian media reported that in Tehran alone at least 400 demonstrators had been sentenced to between 2 and 10 years in prison.
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