Iran executes karate champion and volunteer children’s coach amid crackdown on protests

Iran executes karate champion and volunteer children’s coach amid crackdown on protests

CNN- Jan7th2023

By Artemis Moshtaghian, Sahar Akbarzai, Tara Subramaniam, Jomana Karadsheh and Niamh Kennedy, CNN

The executions on Saturday of two young men in Iran, one a karate champion, the other a volunteer children’s coach, in connection with nationwide protests have sparked outrage around the world.

The total number of people now known to have been executed in connection with the protests that have swept the country since the death of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini in morality police custody on September 16 has reached four.

Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini were hanged early Saturday morning, state-affiliated Fars News reported. The pair, who allegedly took part in anti-regime protests last year, were convicted of killing Seyed Ruhollah Ajamian, a member of the country’s Basij paramilitary force, in Karaj on November 3, according to the Iran’s judiciary news agency Mizan.

Mohammad Hossein Aghasi, a lawyer advocating for Karami, posted to Twitter Saturday saying that Karami was not given final rights to speak to his family before his execution. The lawyer added that Karami had begun a dry food hunger strike Wednesday as a form of protest against officials for not allowing Aghasi to represent him.

As many as 41 more protesters have received death sentences in recent months, according to statements from both Iranian officials and in Iranian media reviewed by CNN and 1500Tasvir, but the number could be much higher.

UN and EU ‘urge’ Iran to ‘halt’ executions

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the European Union (EU) have urged Iran to halt all executions following the hanging of the pair.

“We deplore the execution of two more protesters, #MohammadMehdiKarami & #MohammadHosseini, following unfair trials based on forced confessions,” the OHCHR said in a tweet on Saturday.

The OHCHR called it “shocking” that Iran has continued to execute protesters “despite international outcry.”

“We urge Iran to halt all executions,” the OHCHR added.

The EU said in a statement Saturday that it was “appalled” by the executions, calling it “yet another sign of the Iranian authorities’ violent repression of civilian demonstrations.”