Lagtar24 Desk
Tehran, Jan 8: Iran hanged two men on Saturday for allegedly killing a member of the Basij paramilitary force during protests sparked by the death of 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Amini on September 16.
The two men, who were executed on Saturday, were found guilty of killing a member of the Basij paramilitary force militia. Three others were sentenced to death in the same case, while 11 received prison sentences.
“Mohammad Mahdi Karami and Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini, the main perpetrators of the crime that led to the unjust martyrdom of Ruhollah Ajamian, were hanged this morning,” said the judiciary.
The European Union`s top diplomat on Saturday condemned the executions and called on Iran to immediately stop carrying out death sentences against protestors, and annul existing sentences.
The U.S. special envoy to Iran, Robert Malley also condemned the executions, saying they followed ‘sham trials’. “These executions must stop,” tweeted Malley.
British Foreign Minister James Cleverly on Saturday condemned the executions and called on Iran to ‘immediately end the violence against its people’ .
The French foreign ministry called the executions ‘revolting’ and urged Iranian authorities to heed ‘the legitimate aspirations of the Iranian people’.
In December, Hosseini’s lawyer, Ali Sharifzadeh Ardakani tweeted that Hosseini had been severely tortured and that confessions extracted under torture had no legal basis.
Hosseini was beaten with his hands and feet tied up, kicked in the head until he passed out, and subjected to electric shocks on different parts of his body, he added.
Moreover, Iran denies that confessions are extracted under torture.
Mahsa Amini died in custody in September after being arrested by morality police enforcing the Islamic Republic’s mandatory dress code laws. The protests that ensued represent one of the biggest challenges to the Islamic Republic since its establishment in 1979.
