For the first time since the beginning of the demonstrations which shook the country, Iran executed, Thursday, December 8, a man accused of having injured a paramilitary after having blocked traffic on an avenue in Tehran. “Mohsen Shekari, a rioter who blocked Sattar Khan Boulevard on September 25 and stabbed a Bassij with a machete, was executed Thursday morning in Tehran”announced the organ of the judicial authority Mizan Online.
The Tehran Revolutionary Court on November 1 found Mohsen Shekari guilty of drawing “his weapon with the intention of killing, causing terror and disturbing the order and security of society”. His appeal was dismissed by the Supreme Court on November 20 making the sentence enforceable.
The Islamic Republic is the scene of a protest movement sparked by the death on September 16 of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd who died after her arrest by the morality police. The latter accused her of having violated the strict dress code of the Islamic Republic imposing in particular the wearing of the veil for women.
At least 28 people face execution
This first execution was denounced by human rights activists abroad. She “must provoke strong reactions, otherwise we will face daily executions of protesters”, warned Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of Iran Human Rights (IHR), based in Oslo. Mohsen Shekari was “sentenced to death in show trials”he still denounced. “This execution must have rapid practical consequences at the international level.”
More than 2 000 people have been charged, according to official Iranian judicial figures. At least 28 people, including three minors, could be executed in connection with the protest, said Amnesty, which denounces “mock trials” and accuses the authorities of using the death penalty as “a tool of political repression with the aim of instilling fear among the population and ending” to the dispute.
“The Iranian regime’s contempt for humanity knows no bounds”denounced Germany in reacting to this first execution, France expressing for its part “his strongest condemnation”. Paris noted that “this execution comes on top of other serious and unacceptable violations”.