Iran on Monday hanged two males on costs of spreading blasphemy on social media, prompting US condemnation and accusations from Amnesty International the Islamic republic has reached a “new low” in a spree of executions.
Sadrollah Fazeli Zare and Youssef Mehrdad, convicted of desecrating the Koran and insulting the Prophet Mohammed, were hanged in the morning in a prison in the central city of Arak, the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said.
Their execution came as concern intensifies about a spike in executions in Iran this year, after 2022 saw more people hanged than in any year since 2015, according to rights groups.
Activists accuse the authorities of using capital punishment as a means to intimidate the population after anti-regime protests that erupted in September last year shook the clerical leadership.
Amnesty said in a statement Monday’s execution represented “a shocking new low for Iran’s authorities and only furthers Iran’s pariah status”.
“They have been hanged solely for social media posts in a grotesque assault on the rights to life and freedom of faith.”
In Washington, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said the executions were a “grave reminder of the Iranian regime’s penchant for abusing and violating the human rights of Iranian people.”
“Blasphemy legal guidelines stay an affront to human rights worldwide, together with in Iran,” he told reporters.
The director of Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR), Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, said the execution of “two people for expressing their opinions” ought to be a “turning level for international locations with freedom of expression values” in their relations with Tehran.
– ‘Government-sanctioned murder’ –
The pair were accused of operating social media channels and groups that promoted atheism and insulted Islamic “sanctities”, Mizan stated.
It added considered one of them in March 2021 had purportedly confessed throughout a courtroom session to publishing the content material in query on his social media account.
Reports stated the 2 have been arrested in June 2020 over a channel on the Telegram messaging app.
They have been sentenced to demise in April 2023 after which held in solitary confinement, in keeping with reviews.
Mehrdad was the daddy of three kids, in keeping with Persian media based mostly exterior Iran.
“The execution of those residents is a blatant instance of the government-sanctioned homicide of residents who’ve totally different beliefs than these of the Islamic republic’s leaders,” said Hadi Ghaemi, director of the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran.
While the Islamic republic’s law permits executions for blasphemy, hangings of people convicted of such charges have been relatively rare in recent years.
IHR said an Iranian man was executed in 2013 for questioning the Koran’s narrative on the life of the prophet Jonah in the belly of a whale.
The overwhelming majority of individuals executed in Iran have been convicted of drug-related or homicide costs.
– ‘Crush protests’ –
Iran executes more people yearly than any other nation except China, according to rights groups including Amnesty.
IHR and the Paris-based Together Against the Death Penalty said last month 2022 had seen the highest number of executions in the Islamic republic since 2015 with 582 people hanged.
And so far in 2023, at least 208 people have been executed, according to IHR.
On Friday, Amiry-Moghaddam said that over the 10 previous days Iran had executed “one person every six hours… while the international community has remained silent”.
The spike in executions since final yr has coincided with nationwide demonstrations triggered by the September 16 demise in custody of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for allegedly violating strict costume guidelines for girls.
Four males have been executed in reference to the protests in 2022, drawing worldwide condemnation, however activists need higher stress on Iran to cease all executions.
On Saturday, Iran executed Swedish-Iranian dissident Habib Chaab for “terrorism”, prompting sharp criticism from Sweden and the European Union.
Amnesty said the execution came after a grossly unfair trial marred by torture and forced confessions.
Meanwhile, German-Iranian Jamshid Sharmahd, 68, is condemned to death by Iran, which does not recognise dual nationality, in connection with a deadly mosque bombing in 2008.
His family strongly reject the charges and say Sharmahd was abducted by Iranian security forces to face trial in Tehran while travelling in the Gulf in 2020.
“Without urgent international action, the Iranian authorities will continue to deploy the death penalty to torment and terrorise the entire population, crush protests and other forms of dissent,” stated Amnesty.
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