| Iran publicly hangs wrestler for anti-hijab protest

Tehran: Iran carries out a second death sentence for supporting the anti-hijab protest. Wrestler Majidresa Rahnavadi (23) was publicly hanged.

The punishment was carried out in the city of Mashhad on Monday morning. Majidresa was accused of stabbing two members of the Basij Resistance Force. He was sentenced to death for blasphemy. Human rights organizations have alleged that protesters are being sentenced to death by conducting farcical trials without following due process.

Mahmoud Amiri-Moghadam, director of Norway-based Iran Human Rights, tweeted that Rahnawad was sentenced to death on the basis of a forced confession and an unfair trial. “Thousands of people have been taken into custody. A dozen death sentences have already been issued. There is also the possibility of mass executions,” Moghadam said. The first execution was carried out last Thursday. 23-year-old Mohsen Shekari was convicted of assaulting a Basij member with a machete in Tehran.

The Judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported that Majidreza Rahnawad was hanged in the presence of a group of Mashadi citizens. Images of executions have also been released, including a man hanging from a crane’s cable. The opposition activists alleged that Rahnawad’s family members were not informed about the execution. In the morning, an official called to inform that your son has been killed and cremated. Rahnawad was hanged 23 days after his arrest.

The case was that on November 17, Basij members were stabbed to death when they approached protesters who were trying to close down shops on a street in Mashhad. German Foreign Minister Annalina Berbock said the European Union should consider imposing sanctions against those responsible for the executions.