In today’s ‘civilized world’, thousands of people are sentenced to death each year. They are hanged, shot, tortured to death, and sometimes stoned to death. Execution is a sign of the legacy of human barbarism. The association of the wild and lawless world of the past.
For this reason, an attempt to stop executions worldwide was made in 2002. Amnesty International and the Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM) have declared October 10 as the International Day Against the Death Penalty. The goal was to tie all efforts to combat the death penalty on this day and to concentrate actions and rallies to fight the death penalty on this day.
While the whole world is moving towards the abolition of executions with admirable speed, in Iran Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s declining government is moving in the opposite direction with incredible speed. In the first six months of 2020, Iran’s regime executed 136 prisoners in various prisons. Of these executed prisoners: 134 were men and two were women. A prisoner was executed in public. The names of several minor offenders can be seen among those executed.
In disbelief, there are eight political prisoners among those executed. The names of the eight political prisoners are Mostafa Salimi, Abdolbaset Dahani, Shahram Baygan, Hedayat Abdollahpour, Diako Rasoulzadeh, Saber Sheikh Abdullah, Mostafa Salehi, and Navid Afkari.
These prisoners were hanged in various prisons:
- Mostafa Salimi in Saqez Central Prison on charges of Moharebeh (waging war against God) on April 11, 2020
- Abdolbaset Dahani, in Zahedan Central Prison on charges of Moharebeh on April 23, 2020
- Shahram Baygan, in Tabriz Central Prison on April 23, 2020
- Hedayat Abdollahpour, in Oshnavieh on charges of Moharebeh on May 21, 2020
- Diako Rasoulzadeh: In Kermanshah Central Prison on charges of Moharebeh on July 14, 2020
- Saber Sheikh Abdullah: In Kermanshah Central Prison on charges of Moharebeh on July 14, 2020
- Mostafa Salehi, in Isfahan Central Prison on charges of Moharebeh on August 5, 2020
- Navid Afkari, in Shiraz Central Prison on charges of Moharebeh on September 12, 2020
#IranProtests2020
Death-row #politicalprisoner #NavidAfkari from #Shiraz prison:
"I wrote a letter to judicial officials & said I'm not a murderer. The forensic report, eyewitness testimonies, & evidence proved I was tortured. But, they're looking for a neck to fit their noose" pic.twitter.com/9w8QVUH9sc— IranNewsUpdate (@IranNewsUpdate1) August 31, 2020
- Shahrouz Kazemi, in Isfahan Central Prison on charges of Moharebeh on September 30, 2020
Dictatorship and Execution of Political Prisoners
The diminishing dictatorship of the mullahs, in fact, by executing this number of political prisoners, has shown its fear of the growing movement of the society. The dictator is forced to show his teeth in times of crisis.
For this reason, in addition to all the executions so far, it has included eight political prisoners related to the uprising on its prospective execution list.
- Saeed Tamjidi, Greater Tehran Prison
- Mohammad Rajabi, Greater Tehran Prison
- Hadi Kiani, Dastgerd Isfahan Prison
- Mehdi Salehi Ghaleh Shahrokhi, Dastgerd Esfahan Prison
- Mohammad Keshvari, Dastgerd Isfahan Prison
- Mohammad Bastami, Dastgerd Isfahan Prison
- Majid Nazari Kondari, Dastgerd Isfahan Prison
- Abbas Mohammadi, Dastgerd Isfahan Prison
In addition to these young people whose sentences have been issued and finalized, a number of other detainees, such as Ali Younesi and Amir Hossein Moradi, and some other detainees are also facing the threat of execution. We do not forget that 20 other political prisoners, most of whom are Sunni or Arab Iranians, have been sentenced to death in previous years and have been under execution for many years.
Execution of Children
In the first six months of this year, three children have been executed by the judiciary. These executed children are:
Shayan Saeedpour was executed in Saqez Central Prison on charges of murder on 21 April 2020. He escaped from prison during the Saqr Central Prison riot and was re-arrested. He had an acute mental illness.
Majid Esmailzadeh was executed in Ardabil Central Prison for murder on April 18, 2020.
Arsalan Yassini was executed in Urmia Central Prison for murder on August 17, 2020. He was tortured and forced to confess without committing murder.
Prisoners of Ordinary Crime
During the first six months of 2020, a total of 128 prisoners were executed on charges of ordinary and social crimes. These prisoners are generally portrayed in the state media as murderers, thieves, rapists, and drug dealers. But what the regime and its so-called independent judiciary never answer is why people are forced to commit such crimes.
Executed Women
Among the detainees arrested for ordinary crimes are two women. Mehri with an unknown last name was hanged in Mashhad prison on August 2, 2020, and Fereshteh was executed on August 18.
Also, among the executed prisoners, two prisoners were executed for espionage and one prisoner for drinking alcohol.
Among the executed prisoners, the execution of political prisoner Mostafa Salehi and Navid Afkari, a wrestling champion, shook the minds of the Iranian public and the world public opinion. The anti-execution campaign launched on the eve of the execution of the two prisoners was unprecedented. Artists, athletes, politicians, and of course, and most important all the people, all stood up to prevent the execution of the two men. But Khamenei proved that he was too weak to retreat from his decision. And if he would accept the protest of the people, this would be the start of the end of its killing machine. Execution is the lever of the government’s survival, but it seems as if this is becoming the government’s own noose.
