Iran has publicly hanged a man accused of killing two members of the security forces in its second use of capital punishment against anti-government protesters.
Majidreza Rahnavard’s family were woken early on Monday morning to be informed that he had been executed and that his body had been buried in a lot in the local cemetery.
Rahnavard, a 23-year-old wrestler, had been sentenced to death by a court in the city of Mashhad for allegedly killing two members of the Basij volunteer force and wounding four others. The Basij force, affiliated with the country’s Revolutionary Guards, has been at the forefront of the state crackdown on protests.
The judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported that he was arrested on 19 November while trying to flee the country. Mizan published a collage of images of Rahnavard hanging from a crane, his hands and feet bound, a black bag over his head. Masked security force members stood guard in front of concrete and metal barriers that held back a gathered crowd early on Monday morning.
His execution underscores the speed at which Iran now carries out death sentences handed down for those detained in the demonstrations.
Iranian media has printed the names of 25 other people who faced the death sentence in relation to the protests, which were sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish-Iranian woman arrested by the morality police for allegedly breaching the country’s strict dress code for women. The protests, described by authorities as “riots”, represent the biggest challenge to the regime since the shah’s ouster in 1979.
On Thursday, Iran hanged Mohsen Shekari, who had been convicted of injuring a security guard with a knife and blocking a street in Tehran, the first such execution after thousands of arrests over the unrest, drawing western condemnation. During his trial, Shekari showed signs of torture visible on his face, his uncle Mahmoud Shekari told the Guardian.
EU and western powers are imposing sanctions on those responsible for the wave of repression but in reality travel bans and asset freezes have little practical impact since those who have faced sanctions are unlikely to travel to the west or own assets outside Iran.
Speaking before an EU meeting on Monday, the EU foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, said EU ministers were preparing to endorse “a very tough” package of sanctions against Iran for human rights violations and the supply of drones to Russia.
The protest movement has been calling for Europe tobegin expelling Iranian diplomats and to formally break off the already stalled talks with Iran over the future of the nuclear deal.
Mashhad, a Shia holy city, has been one of the centres of the protests. Mizan said Rahnavard was convicted in Mashhad’s revolutionary court. He was not allowed to choose his own lawyer, challenge the evidence against him or ask for the trial to be held in public.
In a sign of nervousness on the part of the authorities, the state news agencies gave detailed descriptions of how Rahnavard allegedly killed two Basijs, sought to flee the country and then confessed in court. They also claimed local shopkeepers had been demanding retribution.
State TV showed a video in which Rahnavard said in the court that he came to hate the Basij forces after seeing them beating and killing protesters in videos posted on social media. Activists said he was forced to confess under torture.
Heartfelt appeals from parents of sons about to face the death penalty have appeared online or in newspapers protesting their children’s innocence and demanding they are given the basic right to a lawyer of their choosing.
Executions conducted in public with a crane, also used to put down unrest following the disputed 2009 presidential election in Iran, have been rare in recent years. Activists have put pressure on companies providing cranes to Iran in the past, warning they can be used for executions.
Reformists who remain loyal to the idea of the Islamic Republic have been warning hardliners for weeks that they need to listen to the protests and respond or see most of the already alienated population demand the overthrow of the entire post-1979 system.
At least 488 people have been killed since the demonstrations began in mid-September, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group that has been monitoring the protests. Another 18,200 people have been detained by authorities.
