Dubai: Iran on Monday announced the execution of a second prisoner who was detained and found guilty amid massive anti-Semitism protests, after footage aired on state television claimed he had Two security force members were shown running away after being stabbed.
Majidreza Rahnavard was publicly hanged less than a month after he allegedly committed the fatal stabbing out of anger at security forces killing protesters. It shows how quickly Iran now executes people detained during protests that the government is trying to suppress.
Activists warn that at least a dozen people have already been sentenced to death in the secret trials. At least 488 people have been killed since the demonstrations began in mid-September, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group that monitors the protests. Authorities have detained another 18,200 people.
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According to Iran's judiciary-run Mizan news agency, Rahnavarad is accused of stabbing two members of the security forces to death and injuring four others in Mashhad on November 17.
On camera, a man was seen chasing another man around a street corner and stabbing him after the other man tripped and fell against a parked motorcycle. Another immediately showed the same man stabbing another. The assailant, identified by state TV as Rahnavarad, then fled.
According to Mizan's report, the deceased were "students" Basij, paramilitary volunteers of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. In many cases, protesters have retaliated when Basij (pronounced "BA-SEEJ") deployed in major cities attacked and detained them.
Following Rahnvard's execution, a heavily edited state television report featuring him in court was broadcast. He claims in the video that he started hating Basis after watching videos of police beating and killing protesters posted on social media.
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Rahnvard was accused in the Mizan report of attempting to flee his country of arrest.
The Shia holy city of Mashhad is located approximately 460 miles (or 740 kilometers) east of Tehran, the capital of Iran. Strikes, shop closures and demonstrations have reportedly taken place amid the unrest that began after the custodial death on 16 September of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was detained by Iran's morality police.
According to Mizan, the revolutionary court in Mashhad found Rahnavar guilty. The tribunals have drawn criticism from around the world for not allowing those people to choose their own lawyers or even to see the evidence against them.
Rahnvard was found guilty of "moharbeh", which is Persian for "waging war against God". Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, this charge has been made against others and is punishable by death.
Iran, one of the most brutal countries in the world, usually executes its prisoners by hanging. On Thursday it executed the first prisoner taken during the protests.
According to a document obtained by Amnesty International, a prisoner's execution should be carried out "in the shortest possible time" and his death sentence carried out publicly as a "heartwarming gesture to the security forces". should go.
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In addition to the unrest, Iran is facing a severe economic crisis that has pushed the country's currency, the rial, to new lows against the dollar.