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27-year-old fighter was sentenced to death
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Where to go to jail for a kiss
Fighter Navid Afkari is sentenced to death in Iran for allegedly killing a security guard during protests. In May, the case of parkour athlete Alireza Japalaghy caused a stir. That’s when they arrested her, for a kiss.
Iranian fighter Navid Afkari was executed on Saturday in the presence of the victim’s family. His conviction sparked an international wave of protests. In vain.
reThe death sentence against Iranian fighter Navid Afkari was carried out on Saturday. The 27-year-old was executed at the Adel-Abad prison in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz, the head of the judiciary in Fars province, Kasem Mousavi, told state television.
After the sentence was also confirmed by the Supreme Court, the execution was carried out in the presence of the family of the victims, Mousavi said.
The Iranian judiciary on Wednesday rejected criticism of Afkari’s death sentence at home and abroad. “Many simply interfere in matters for which they do not have accurate information or the necessary legal competence,” said justice spokesman Gholam-Hussein Ismaili.
“Ghissas” – blood revenge or tit for tat
Afkari murdered an innocent person and the sentence against him in Iran is not the death penalty, but “Ghissas”, the spokesman said. “Ghissas” is in Islamic law the principle of retribution, blood revenge or an eye for an eye, which the families of the victims can decide.
In protest at the death sentence, there had previously been an international wave of solidarity with Afkari. IOC President Thomas Bach had spoken of feeling “close” to the Afkari athlete. One is “extremely worried.”
According to the Iranian judiciary, Afkari had killed a security officer at a demonstration in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz in 2018. He was said to have confessed. The athlete, his family and human rights organizations alleged that the confession was obtained through torture.
His two brothers, who had participated with him in protests against the Islamic regime, received long prison sentences.
The federal government human rights commissioner, Bärbel Kofler (SPD), expressed “profound dismay” at the execution: “It is unacceptable that the rule of law is ignored, just to silence unpleasant voices.” The Athleten Deutschland association was “deeply affected and shocked.”
Thousands of Iranians condemned the execution on social media. Many users asked the foreign ministers of Germany, Great Britain and Italy to cancel their meeting with Iranian diplomatic chief Mohamed Jawad Sarif scheduled for next week and not to let him enter their countries. Mariam Radschawi, representative of Iranian women in exile, called on the international community to take “concrete measures” against Iran.
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