23-year-old Protester Convicted For ‘Waging War Against God’ Executed By Iran Government

 

A 23years old man arrested during a protest has been executed by the Iranian government

 

 Majidreza Rahnavard, was said to have been hanged from a construction crane in Mashhad on Monday.

This was stated in Iran’s judiciary’s news website, stating that Rahnavard was convicted of killing two members of the country’s Basij paramilitary force on November 17.

“The suspect was arrested by the security forces while he had fled from Mashhad and was planning to flee the country. Immediately after the arrest of the accused, the proceedings began,” the judiciary said.

The court accused him of “waging war against God” and threatened to punish him accordingly.

Within four weeks of his arrest, he was charged, sentenced to death, and executed without legal representation.

The judiciary’s news agency published several pre-dawn photographs purportedly showing Rahnavard’s execution at an undisclosed location in the presence of a small group of people behind barricades.

Masked security personnel were seen encircling the area.

Following Rahnavard’s execution, Gholam Sadeghi, chief justice of Khorasan Razavi, thanked law enforcement for “performing their legal duties in the shortest possible time, as well as the officials and the judicial review board, who handled this case quickly, responding to public demands for order and security, and dealing with rioters and lawbreakers,” according to the three principles of correctness, accuracy, and fairness.

The announcement comes just days after Iran announced the country’s first public execution of someone convicted of a crime related to the country’s ongoing protests.

The Iranian judiciary identified the executed man as Mohsen Shekari.

Shekari, like Rahnavard, was found guilty of “waging war against God” after allegedly stabbing a security officer with a knife and closing down a street in Tehran, Iran.

Following Shekari’s conviction, the judiciary’s spokesman, Masoud Setayeshi, stated that anyone who uses a “cold or warm weapon with the intent of harming the life, possessions, or family of people or terrorising them” could be charged with moharebeh, or “waging war against God,” which carries the death penalty.

After the death of Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish woman from the northwestern city of Saqez, who was said to have been arrested by morality police on September 13 for not wearing a proper hijab, Iran has been experiencing its largest uprising in decades.

Foreign-based human rights organisations have said more than 450 people have been killed during the protests, which is higher than the death toll of 200 provided by Iran.

The human rights groups have also warned that more people arrested in connection with the protests could be executed soon.

 

Iran is second to China as the country with the most executions carried out annually.

Meanwhile, weeks after the protests began, the morality police was disbanded.