ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran’s judiciary said on Monday that it carried out the second known execution linked to the nationwide protests amid warnings from rights groups warning that many more at risk of being handed the death sentence.
Majidreza Rahnavard, 23, was publicly hanged less than a month after he was detained for allegedly stabbing two members of the security forces in Mashhad. At least 488 protesters have been killed and over 18,200 arrested since the protests began almost three months ago, according to US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).
Iran’s Mizan online, affiliated to the country’s judiciary, claimed Rahnavard had stabbed two members of the Basij, a paramilitary group linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC), to death on November 19 and injured four others. The news agency then stated that he was arrested upon attempting to flee the country.
Mizan added that Rahnavard had been convicted of “moharebeh” or “waging war against God” in Mashhad’s Revolutionary Court. Rights groups have slammed these tribunals for carrying out “sham trials” and issuing sentences without any credible evidence.
Iranian state television broadcast footage showing a man stabbing other men then fleeing and alleged that was Rahnavard, Associated Press reported.
Iran carried out the first official protest-linked execution on Thursday. Mohsen Shekari, 23, was hanged after also being convicted of “moharabeh.” He had been similarly accused of wounding a member of the Basij.
Eleven death sentences have been issued by an Iranian court over the protests, the majority being related to the targeting of Basij members. Rights groups monitoring the violent crackdown in Iran warned that more protesters are at risk of execution.
In the wake of the news, Amnesty International called on the international community to urge the Iranian regime to stop any plans of further executions and to “stop using the death penalty as tool of political repression against protesters.”
Protests spread throughout the country in the aftermath of the death of Zhina (Mahsa) Amini at the hands of the morality police on September 16, sparking a violent crackdown by Iranian security forces, particularly the IRGC and the Basij.
The protests, which authorities describe as “riots”, are on the biggest challenge the regime in Iran have confronted since it was established in 1979. Iran is one of the world’s top executioners and is using this method as an attempt to quell the protests.
Updated at 2:39 pm
