The body of Majid Reza Rahnavard hangs from a crane after his execution in the Iranian city of Mashad.
Majid Reza Rahnavard, 23, has been hanged in the middle of the street in the city of Mashad after being found guilty of stabbing two members of the Basij militia in a “sham trial”, according to NGOs
The international condemnation for the execution of Mohsen Shekari, 23, on the 8th, accused of wounding a paramilitary during the protests in Iran, has not softened the government. The regime has executed this past morning a second convicted person, Majid Reza Rahnavard, also 23 years old, and on this occasion he has done it publicly, in front of hundreds of citizens and a strict police cordon. The young man has been hanged from a mobile crane in the middle of the street in Mashad, a city located almost a thousand kilometers from Tehran, and the image of his hanging body has been widely disseminated by national channels, even accompanied by explanatory texts of his crime.
Majid was arrested only 23 days ago, which demonstrates the expeditiousness of the Iranian Justice. A week later he was subjected to a public trial along with more than a thousand detainees, all of them tried in public squares throughout the country. The sentence attributed the murder with a knife of two members of the Basij militia, a paramilitary force in charge of maintaining order and traditions, supposedly under the cover of the popular demonstrations for the death of Masha Amini that have been held in the country since more than two months ago. The death of the young woman after being detained by the Morale Police because she was wearing the veil incorrectly has led to the dissolution of this unit, at least, on paper, since doubts persist that the regime has simply subjected her to a facelift.
European condemnation
The European Union, which is holding a council of foreign ministers this Monday, is preparing to approve a round of sanctions against the Iranian government for the execution. Precisely from Brussels, the head of German diplomacy, Annalena Baerbock, has considered that the objective of these executions is to “intimidate” citizens and dissuade them from participating in street demonstrations. “These public executions are a blatant attempt to intimidate people, not for having committed crimes, but simply for expressing their opinions on the street,” she stressed. For his part, the Spanish Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, has expressed his wish that the EU countries show a “strong and common position” against Iran. “We have already clearly condemned executions in Iran and we will continue to do so,” he stressed.
Organizations such as Amnesty International and Iran Human Rights consider that dozens of Iranians, also sentenced to death for their involvement in the protests, are at risk of being executed in the coming days. The NGOs emphasize that at least 14,000 people have been arrested in the protests, according to UN figures, and many of them have been sentenced in “sham trials.” In fact, Amnesty International fears that the next victim already has a name and age: Mahan Sadrat, 22, accused of showing a knife in the demonstrations, although the defendant has repeatedly denied it. The organization has reported this morning that Sadrat has been transferred to a prison near Tehran, “which raises fears of an imminent execution,” said a spokesman from the United Kingdom.
The conviction of Majid Reza Rahnavard, the last executed, is also, according to the NGOs, the consequence of a “pantomime” and confessions “obtained under duress”. They say the same about other prisoners awaiting the rope, prosecuted “without having access to a lawyer” or based on signed statements after “torture” or threats to family members, who on occasion “are forced to testify against” the prisoners. prisoners. After being hung before the crowd, Majid’s body has been deposited in a cemetery without his relatives receiving any notice of the execution or burial.