“The Iranian authorities must immediately halt all executions of people sentenced to death in relation to nationwide protests,” Amnesty International said on Wednesday.
After the Islamic Republic of Iran executed two more protesters, Mohammad Mehdi Karami (22) and Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini (39), on 7 January, Amnesty warned about scores of others facing the death penalty in relation to the ongoing nationwide protests sparked by the September death of Iranian Kurdish woman Jîna Mahsa Amini.
“The arbitrary executions of Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini, just days after their death sentences were upheld, reveal how the Iranian authorities continue to wield the death penalty as a weapon of repression, and serve as a chilling reminder that scores of others remain at risk of execution,” said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
Including Karami and Hosseini, Iran has hanged four protestors so far. An Iranian court sentenced three more protestors to death two days after the latest executions. Amnesty announced five further protest-related capital sentences in the past week.
The international body also reported that the Iranian top court upheld the capital punishment for another protestor, 22-year-old Mohammad Ghobadlou on 2 January.
Iran is holding around 100 more on death row, according to a December report by Iran Human Rights (IHR).