International Amnesty
Tehran – Several high-profile executions and several death sentences passed by IranThe judicial system, even against three anti-government protesters, has caught the world’s attention and has sent a new wave of fear and defiance through Iranian society. State executions are not new to Iran, and there are a wide range of charges that can carry the death penalty, but the increase in recent weeks appears to have a clear goal.
Judiciary spokesman Golamhosein Esmaeili announced on Tuesday execution of Reza Asgari, a former Defense Ministry employee accused of selling information to the CIA about Iran’s missile program.
Last month, Iran said that another suspected spy, Jalal Hajizavar, had been hanged. Hajizavar was also a former employee of the Iranian Defense Ministry, and authorities said he admitted in court that he was paid to spy on the CIA.
However, it is not just about alleged spies. Morteza Jamali, a father of two sons, 55, was executed last week after being convicted of drinking alcohol more than three times, Amnesty International quoted the man’s lawyer as saying. Local justice officials defended the sentence and warned that the government would not hesitate to execute anyone who considers himself a threat to law and order.
“The Iranian authorities have once again revealed the cruelty and inhumanity of their judicial system by executing a man simply for drinking alcohol,” Amnesty Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Diana Eltahawy said in a statement. published last week. .
Several others await the same fate.
Mahmoud Mousavi Majda, a former member of the Iranian Army’s elite Quds Force unit, was convicted of spying for the CIA and Israel’s Mossad and sentenced to death last month.
#Do_not_execute
However, the cases that have most fueled public opinion are those of three young people accused of participating in anti-government protests last November. Amirhossein Moradi, Saeed Tamjidi and Mohamad Rajabi, all in their 20s, were convicted after participating in protests sparked by rising gasoline prices.
The men were sentenced to death in February after confessing “vandalism and arson with the intention of confronting and waging war with the Islamic Republic of Iran.” All three men have said they were forced to make false confessions under severe prison treatment.
The prayers have sparked a huge online protest, with nearly 10 million tweets and retweets using the Persian language hashtag “#do_not_execute” since Tuesday, when the Supreme Court confirmed his death sentences.
Amnesty, which launched an online petition asking Iran to stop the executions, said the men’s trial “was very unfair. They were denied access to lawyers during the investigation phase and say they were tortured.”
Under pressure, the judiciary agreed to hear any appeal made by the three men, and one of his lawyers said he was allowed, for the first time, to view the materials of the case. As of Friday, however, judicial officials and state media had provided no indication that the death sentences were reconsidered.
Former Iranian prisoners who were fortunate to be released and leave the country have said that forced confessions are common in Iran. The survivors described physical and mental torture in Iranian prisons, saying that their family members were also pressured to make recorded confessions that are often broadcast on state television.
The motivation
Many Iranian political analysts believe, although reluctant to speak in public, that recent death sentences have been issued as part of an effort to discourage further protests, which the government cannot afford at this time.
Many of those who joined the protests in November were reluctant to discuss their motivations with CBS News or to say whether they would join any new protests, citing protesters who are currently facing execution.
Amir, a 35-year-old taxi driver living in a southern suburb of Tehran, agreed to speak if he was not fully identified. He said he attended rallies in the fall to show his disapproval of the rising fuel price and the greater economic hardship suffered by Iranians.
However, he stopped participating after three days, saying he feared for his life given the brutality of the security forces’ response to the protests. He said he saw them shooting directly at the protesters, and that he had to think about his family.
The Iranian government has come under tremendous pressure in the past year, both because of protests and the coronavirus epidemic within the country, and because of the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” policy of paralyzing Tehran with economic sanctions.
Sporadic small-scale anti-government protests continue to emerge. Police authorities told a local media outlet that they had canceled a protest in the southern city of Behbahan on Thursday night.
Unconfirmed reports said tear gas was used, and online monitoring group NetBlocks.org said internet access had been cut in the region after videos showing the protests, such as the one above, appeared on social media. .
A series of recent, mysterious explosions and fires The almost sensitive industrial, military and nuclear facilities have paid even more attention in the Islamic Republic, so the government has little capacity to try to quell any new round of unrest at this time.
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