Tehran carries out death sentence after protests

According to the Iranian judicial authority on its website Misan Online, a man was executed after injuring a member of the paramilitary Basij militias during a road blockade in Tehran at the end of September.

The “rioter” Mohsen Shekari blocked Sattar Khan Boulevard in Tehran on September 25 and stabbed a Basij in the left shoulder with a knife, the judiciary said. He was executed on Thursday morning.

Disturbance of the “order and security of society”

Schekari was reportedly sentenced by a revolutionary court in Tehran on November 1. On November 20, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, allowing the sentence to be carried out. According to the judicial authority, Shekari was found guilty of having fought and drawn his weapon “with the intent to kill, spread terror and disturb the order and security of society”. He also used it to wage war against God.

Iran has been rocked by protests since the death of young Kurd Jina Mahsa Amini on September 16. The 22-year-old died shortly after being arrested by the vice squad because of an improperly worn headscarf. Activists accuse the police of abusing the young woman.

Another eleven defendants sentenced to death

Tehran describes the demonstrators as “rioters” and accuses the United States, other western countries and Kurdish exile groups of supporting the protests. The Iranian judiciary has sentenced eleven others to death in connection with the protests.

nob/sti (dpa, afp)