The Status of Iran’s Protests
Two public executions. Twenty-five more face the same.
Senior Analyst Pauline Lecomte wrote about the protests engulfing Iran in early October, however, these protests have only continued to grow across the country. Mahsa Amini’s death in custody sparked the protests, and they are continuing in her name, and in many others. Iranian Human Rights activists have claimed that 488 people have died throughout the country and over 18,000 people have been arrested, since the start of the protests. Over the past four days, two people have been executed, and twenty-five more are facing a similar fate.
Mohsen Shekari was publicly executed on the 8th of December, after having been convicted by Tehran’s Revolutionary Court. He was charged with “waging war against God” and has been accused of attacking a security officer with a machete. These courts are notorious for their treatment of those on trial; in the ten years that followed their establishment in 1979, they executed over 16,000 people. Trials are often held behind closed doors, defendants are denied lawyers, often cannot speak to defend themselves, or see the evidence against them. This system is often reserved for popular political cases, with the judge providing the final verdict, in Mohsen Shekari’s case, that verdict was death.
Iran is considered one of the world’s top executors, at least 333 people were executed in 2021. Majidreza Rahnavard was publicly executed on the 12th of December, he was hanged from a crane, and his family were told after he was buried. State TV, similar to many other trials, aired video footage of him admitting to hating the Basij Forces and killing two of them, however, activists claim he was forced to say this. The Revolutionary Court is a dangerous and deadly use of “justice”, where sham political trials are conducted, and similarly to Majidreza Rahnavard’s case, there are often clips released to the media of those on trial admitting to the crimes. The right to a fair trial is a basic and necessary human right that everyone around the world deserves. Those going through the Revolutionary Court are not given this right, there is no ability to defend themselves. However, the judicial system, just as the government does, relies on the public, when confidence falls, protests occur, which is currently happening. Thus, it is likely that protests will only get worse and spread further, especially as twenty-five more people face a similar punishment to these two men. This number of twenty-five will only grow until further action is done.
On December 13th, 400 Iranians in Tehran and surrounding areas were jailed for partaking in the ongoing protests. So far, 160 people have been given a sentence of five to ten years in prison, 80 have been sentenced two to five years, and 160 have been sentenced to up to two years, according to Tehran’s judiciary chief.
The European Union has placed new sanctions on 20 Iranian officials, focused on those conducting and dealing with the execution process. The Revolutionary Guards are one of the groups targeted by the proposed sanctions, an important group in Iran’s domestic politics and foreign policy. Along with them, other military and state-run media officials have been targeted by the sanctions. These targeted sanctions will be fairly effective in inconveniencing these officials, however it is incredibly unlikely this move will put an end to the abuses that the Iranian government is conducting. These protests are only continuing to occur, and with the droves of civilians being arrested or killed by the government and security services, they are not going to stop anytime soon.
