In Iran, a death sentence has been carried out for the first time in connection with the anti-government protests in Tehran, which have been going on for almost three months. As the judicial authority announced on its website, a man was executed on Thursday for allegedly wounding a member of the paramilitary Basij militias during a roadblock in Tehran in late September.
Mohsen Shekari († 23) blocked Sattar Khan Boulevard in Tehran on September 25 and stabbed a Basij, a volunteer militia, in the left shoulder, the judiciary said.
appeal rejected
Schekari was sentenced on November 1 by a revolutionary court in Tehran. On November 20, the Supreme Court rejected the appeal, allowing the sentence to be carried out. According to the judiciary, Shekari was found guilty of “killing, spreading terror and disrupting the order and security of society with intent to kill”, after fighting and drawing his weapon.
Iran has been rocked by protests since the death of the young Kurd Mahsa Amini († 22) on September 16. She died shortly after her arrest by the vice squad because of an incorrectly worn headscarf. Activists accuse the police of mistreating the young woman.
Tehran describes the protesters as “rioters” and accuses the United States, other Western countries and exiled Kurdish groups of supporting the protests. Iran’s judiciary has sentenced 11 others to death in connection with the protests. (AFP/nad)