World Abhors Islamic Republic’s Execution Of Protesters

Ali Sharifzadeh Ardakani, Mohammad Hosseini's lawyer, published a photo of a request for retrial, saying the execution of his client was "unjust".

“Considering the call for appeal and submission of documents, including harassment of my client to extract a confession and documents regarding his mental illness, carrying out the sentence was unjust,” he added in a tweet.

Sharifzadeh said that a day after the verdict’s confirmation, he filed a request for retrial, but officials turned down his request.

Mohammad Aghasi, the lawyer of Mohammad-Mehdi Karami, also said in an interview that “They executed my client so quickly that they didn't even give him a chance to write a petition for retrial.”

Both lawyers were not allowed to defend their clients in court, as Iran’s judiciary only recognizes those attorneys that it selects and appoints to political cases.

Aghasi pointed out that the Supreme Court also failed, because the sentences should have been overturned when the defendants did not have a lawyer of their choice.

Based on the statements of the defendants and their lawyers these two protesters were tortured physically and mentally to extract confessions, a common practice by Islamic Republic officials.

Despite public anger over the executions, the judiciary continues to issue death sentences and exerts pressure on hundreds of imprisoned protesters and their families.

Hoshang Golmakani, director of "Film-e Emrouz" magazine said Sunday that Jafari-Rad took his own life.

Golmakani in an Instagram message said that “Our colleague committed suicide by taking pills on Sunday. He was arrested a few weeks ago during the protests in Karaj [near Tehran], while returning home. After two weeks of incarceration, he could finally prove he was not present in the demonstrations, but…"

The director of "Film-e Emrouz" magazine did not provide any further explanation about the issue, and official news agencies like ISNA only reported his death Sunday morning.

Other reports over the past week have spoken of political prisoners committing suicide after release from detention. Some suspect that strong drugs are being administered to detainees that might be causing suicidal tendencies once they stop using them after their release.

Jafari-Rad, 37, had a master's degree in cinema. He wrote for many years in film magazines, especially "Film-e Emrouz".

At the same time, as a journalist and critic, he collaborated with over 20 other publications and had started making short films and documentaries since 2008.

During the suppression of the anti-government protests, which began on September 16 following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody, over 500 have been killed and thousands of citizens have also been arrested. There is no accurate information about their whereabouts and fate.

Sociologists have also tried to assess the impact of the “Woman, Life Freedom” movement on the Iranian society and government. Some have described it as a women’s movement, a cultural revolution and a struggle against religious fundamentalism.

Others have said that understanding young Iranians is the key to making sense of the ongoing movement. This is a generation that wishes to be independent, individualistic, Internet savvy, and familiar with life on social media. This is in sharp contrast with the previous generation of Iranians.

Meanwhile it is significant that this movement enjoys unprecedented support from the international community and the Iranian diaspora.

According to Iranian sociologist Azam Khatam, her colleagues agree with her that there is a shift in Iran from demands for reform to a call for structural transformation. This is particularly where the Iranian government faces the annoying challenge of the current movement. However, the desire for a full transition among the activists and protesters is not in par with their capability to mobilize all those they want to bring to the streets.

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Khatam introduced a few characteristics of the movement to highlight its points of weakness and strength and show the contrasts between dreams and realities. These characteristics include the movement’s all-encompassing nature and the importance of the number of those who take part in it.

There is also the role of women’s hijab, where a cultural revolution meets a political revolution. There is the absence of mediation mechanisms between the protesters and the government such as political parties and free press, which the Islamic Republic has long destroyed.

Khatam also observed that the presence of various ethnic groups and the practice of civil disobedience has made a return to the pre-September 2022 situation impossible. What happened during the past four months changed political behavior in the streets. At the same time, protests opened a window to the depths of the Iranian society and showed everyone how courageous and unified it is despite its inherent diversity.

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Khatam noted that although the number of protesters is a significant factor, yet it cannot determine the fate of the uprising. She estimated that protests have a diverse power base and have brought at least two million Iranians to the streets in over 135 cities.

Nonetheless, as a result of the protests, the patriarchal structure of the Iranian society has become fragile in parts of the country where it is part of core values. She observed that during the first two months of the protests nine provincial capitals, Tehran, Esfahan, Mashad, Tabriz, Shiraz, Karaj, Sanandaj, Rasht and Kermanshah were the epicenters of unrest.

During the protests, streets have become the main venue for political activity where government's rules can be broken. That explains the radical slogans that were not so direct and sharp even in the 2017 and 2019 unrest. Meanwhile, the protesters have learned that they should keep clinging onto minimal achievement such as removing headscarves to make sure that putting any step back can discourage others. In fact, despite bragging by hardliners, the government no longer tries to enforce hijab in the streets although clerics insist that it should be observed in government offices.

The most important prospect of the movement on which many scholars agree is that the society cannot be taken back to pre-September situation. The protests have effectively prevented the regime from ending its international isolation and boosting oil revenues as the West cannot negotiate with Tehran while the protesters are in the streets. This gives some hope to dissidents, who do not want to see the regime prolonging its existence.

Iranians in Paris, London, Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Bonn, Bremen, Oslo, Vienna, etc. held gatherings to mark the third anniversary of an air disaster when Iran’s Revolutionary Guards shot down a Ukrainian airliner taking off from Tehran in January 2020.

Hearing the news about the execution of two more protesters in Iran, Mohammad Hosseini and Mohammad Mehdi Karami, Iranians living in Germany gathered in front of the Hamburg city hall to voice their condemnation.

In the city of Bonn, many expat Iranians and Germans held a demonstration and march to call for justice for the victims of the Islamic Republic.

The third anniversary of downing of flight PS752 was also held in Oslo, Norway. In the gathering, the statement of the family of the victims of the Ukrainian plane was read out.

The statement stressed on sending the case to the International Court of Justice to launch an investigation into it.

All 176 passengers and crew, including 63 Canadians and 10 from Sweden, as well as 82 Iranian citizens on the plane died in the disaster.

In the past few days, the association of the families of those killed called for demonstrations all over the world to slam the tragic downing of the airliner by the IRGC.

The country’s Foreign Minister James Cleverly in a tweet said, "The execution of Mohammad Mahdi Karami and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini by the Iranian regime is abhorrent."

"The UK is strongly opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances," he added.

Iran hanged the two men for allegedly killing a member of the security forces during nationwide protests that were triggered following the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in police custody in September.

The convictions were not based on a criminal charge related to the murder per se, but they were charged with ‘moharebeh’, meaning “war against God”, a vague religious concept. The Islamic Republic applies the charge to people who might get into a confrontation with security forces during protests.

Despite widespread international attempts to stop the executions, the regime decided to implement the verdict reached in November. Officials say death sentences for three others in the same case have been canceled.

So far, the government has executed four protesters and nearly a dozen others have received the death penalty, some for much less charges than murder, while at least 100 protesters face charges that could end in death sentences for them, an Iranian human rights group based in Oslo has reported.

Dozens of prisoners are either on hunger strike or suffer from life-threatening illnesses that are not treated by prison authorities and some are deprived of life-saving medications.