Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini have been sentenced to death in connection with protests in Iran, sparking international anger.
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Lhe French Foreign Ministry on Saturday deemed “revolting” the executions of Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini, sentenced to death in connection with the protests in Iran, and urged Tehran “to hear the legitimate aspirations of the Iranian people”.
“The execution of demonstrators cannot take the place of a response to the legitimate aspirations of the Iranian people for freedom”, underlined a press release from the Quai d’Orsay, specifying that the head of French diplomacy, Catherine Colonna, had “said it to his Iranian counterpart last December 20 on the sidelines of a regional summit in Jordan. “These appalling executions come on top of the many other serious and unacceptable violations of fundamental rights and freedoms committed by the Iranian authorities,” the Foreign Ministry added.
And France has repeatedly denounced these violations, “publicly and directly to the Iranian authorities, as well as with its partners in the European Union”, he recalls. Earlier, the European Union expressed its dismay and called “once again on the Iranian authorities to immediately put an end to the highly reprehensible practice of issuing and carrying out death sentences against protesters”. The United States also strongly denounced Saturday the executions of two men, condemned to death within the framework of the demonstrations in Iran. “We condemn in the strongest terms the show trial and execution in Iran of Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Mohammad Hosseini,” tweeted US Foreign Affairs spokesman Ned Price.
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“Expedited” justice
Iranian justice announced the hanging on Saturday of these two men found guilty of having killed a paramilitary during the demonstrations triggered by the death in custody of the young Mahsa Amini. A court of first instance had sentenced the two men to death on December 4 and the Supreme Court had confirmed their sentences on January 3, a justice described as “expedited” by human rights NGOs.
Since the beginning of the protest movement, 14 people have been sentenced to death in connection with the demonstrations, according to a count by Agence France-Presse based on official information. Among them, four have been executed, two have had their sentences confirmed by the Supreme Court, six are awaiting new trials and two others can appeal.