15 Dissidents in Iran Face Imminent Execution, Amnesty Warns
Amnesty International has warned of the imminent threat of execution for at least 15 individuals involved in the protests, following what it describes as "grossly unfair sham trials."
Amnesty International has warned of the imminent threat of execution for at least 15 individuals involved in the protests, following what it describes as "grossly unfair sham trials."
At least eight of these individuals, Amnesty says, are awaiting execution following their involvement in the "Woman Life Freedom" uprising in Iran.
Among them are Fazel Bahramian, Mahmoud Mehrabi, Mamousta Mohammad Khazrnejad, Manouchehr Mehman Navaz, Mehran Bahramian, Mojahed (Abbas) Kourkouri, Reza (Gholamreza) Rasaei and prominent rapper Toomaj Salehi.
In their guilty verdicts, they were accused of "enmity against God" (moharebeh), "corruption on earth" (efsad-e fel arz), and "armed rebellion against the state" (baghi).
"The authorities have severely violated their fair trial rights and subjected many to torture and other ill-treatment, including beatings, electric shocks and sexual violence," the group added.
According to Amnesty International, two additional individuals, Saeed Shirazi and Abolfazl Mehri Hossein Hajilou, were tried on capital charges, and at least five others are under investigation for serious offenses related to the protests.
The death of Mahsa Jina Amini in September 2022 at the hands of the regime’s “morality police” ignited a series of nationwide protests lasting for months, commonly referred to as the Woman, Life, Freedom movement. During this period, authorities reportedly killed at least 550 protesters and detained tens of thousands. The UN has since found Iranian authorities responsible for the physical violence that resulted in Amini's death.
Amnesty International reported last month that 853 people were executed in Iran in 2023, a record number in the last eight years, pointing out that the government uses execution as a tool of political repression and may continue to execute thousands more if the international community does not take action.
Raisi was on a short flight back from the neighboring Republic of Azerbaijan last Sunday, when his helicopter went missing from radars. The crash site was located several hours later, along with bodies of Raisi and his minister for foreign affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
Speculations, often conspiratorial in nature, mushroomed immediately after the news of the crash, long before Raisi and other officials were confirmed dead. More conjecture emerged in the following hours and days, mostly pointing fingers at Mojtaba Khamenei, the Supreme Leader’s eldest son who is widely believed to be the main contender to replace his father.
On Thursday evening local time, Iran’s general staff of the Armed Forces published a brief statement (with 6 articles) to present its ‘early’ finding and dissuade people from speculation.
“Some actions require more time for a definitive opinion...while some issues can be stated with certainty and are mentioned here,” the statement read, “no evidence of bullet impact or similar instances was observed in the remaining parts of the crashed helicopter…The crashed helicopter caught fire after hitting an altitude.”
This was perhaps the most significant part of the statement, attempting to convince the public that there was no outside attack or interference. It followed another broad remark conveying the same message: “The helicopter continued its pre-planned route and did not deviate from the designated flight path,” implying that the crash was indeed an accident, but offering no reasons for it –a technical problem, for instance, or human error.
The statement was met with skepticism or mockery. Lack of detail, or a rough storyline, at least, raised many more questions that it answered.
“The statement does not address any of the uncertainties surrounding the crash of Raisi’s helicopter,” Iranian journalist and commentator Jamshid Barzegar told Iran International. “All it does is to rid [Iran’s] armed forces of the little credibility that they had, [especially if] you put it alongside the staggering lack of coordination that was displayed at Raisi’s funeral.”
This sentiment was echoed by other analysts and some ordinary Iranians on social media, who judged the statement from ‘not much to offer’ to ‘all lies’, even though it stated clearly that large amounts of evidence had been gathered but “more time is needed to examine some parts and documents.”
Further statements, even with more evidence and detail, are likely to fail to convince ordinary Iranians, many of whom find it hard to trust official announcements –and are often actively looking for inconsistencies or ‘gaffes’ that would discredit the narrative.
This is partly at least due to the Islamic Republic’s long history of deceit which has all but completely eroded trust between the people and the state. And partly a backlash to the regime’s persistent dissemination of its own message and violent suppression of alternative ideas.
One such instance was the downing of a Ukrainian airliner in January 2020, when two missiles fired by the Revolutionary Guard air defense units around Tehran brought down the plane with 176 people on board. All perished in the crash. For three days, military and security officials denied any involvement and argued that it was a technical accident, until videos emerged showing the missiles hitting the plane.
“People are asked to ignore non-expert opinions based on speculations without accurate knowledge of the realities of the scene, or sometimes guided by foreign media in cyberspace and other platforms,” the statement concluded.
