First modification: Last modification:
One hundred French deputies from various parties sponsor young Iranians sentenced to death for their participation in anti-regime demonstrations. Two protesters were executed in December.
A group of one hundred French legislators, including senators, deputies and MEPs, each decided to sponsor an Iranian demonstrator sentenced to death after protesting against the mullah regime.
At least 100 Iranians detained in protests in their country face charges that carry the death penalty, Iran Human Rights (IHR), an Oslo-based NGO, said in late December.
Iran is the scene of multiple protests sparked by the death, on September 16, of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman, who died after being detained by the morality police for violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code.
In an escalation of the authorities’ repression, which militants say is intended to sow fear among the population, two men were executed this month in connection with these demonstrations.
Fear of a third execution
Majidreza Rahnavard, 23, was publicly hanged on December 12 after being convicted by a court in Machhad (northeast) for having killed two members of the security forces.
Four days earlier, Mohsen Shekari, also 23, was executed for stabbing a member of the security forces.
“I am especially saddened that my godson, Mohammad Mahdi Karami, is not among those who were spared thanks to international pressure. This means we must redouble our energy and determination in our support for those who demand freedom and democracy,” Clémentine Autain, a French deputy from the left-wing NUPES coalition, told RFI.
Karimi, 22, could be the third protester to be executed by the Iranian regime. The young man, who is also a karate champion in Iran, is part of a group of 5 people sentenced to death for an attack that ended in the death of a paramilitary during a funeral ceremony for a protester in Karaj, near Tehran. . Karimi was sentenced after a trial that lasted less than a week, according to the NGO Amnesty International, which denounces a trial that violated due process.
Mohammad Mehdi Karimi’s parents posted on social media on December 18 calling for clemency from judges to preserve the life of their convicted son:
“I believe that this is an essential international struggle, and I confirm, although now I see its most tragic limits; that, despite everything, this pressure has an impact and contributes to morally support those in Iran who are taking risks, risks for their lives in the name of an emancipatory ideal,” Autain added.
In a report published at the end of December, the NGO IHR identified 100 prisoners who could be sentenced to death, 13 of whom already have been. He also noted that many of them had limited access to a lawyer.
In an update published Tuesday, IHR said 476 protesters had been killed since mid-September.
At least 14,000 people have been detained since the start of the protests in Iran, the UN had specified in November.
The judiciary reported that nine other people had been sentenced to death in connection with the demonstrations, two of whom had been allowed a new trial.
Clémentine Autain was interviewed by Orlando Torricelli. With information from AFP.
