Protesters gather at Iranian prison in attempt to stop ‘imminent executions’

Protesters have gathered outside a prison near the Iranian
capital in an attempt to prevent the rumoured imminent execution of two young
detainees found guilty of running over a police officer in a car during
protests in November.
Footage posted on social media showed the mother of one of
the men, 22-year-old Mohammad Ghobadlou, pleading for her son outside
Rajaei-Shahr prison in Karaj, a satellite city west of Tehran. She said it had
been established that her son had not been at the scene when the police officer
died.
Human rights activists had raised the alarm after Ghobadlou
and fellow prisoner Mohammad Boroughani were taken to solitary confinement,
which is often a preliminary step before execution. Their lawyers are claiming
the two men require a retrial in the supreme court.
Four people have been executed so far in relation to the
protest movement that has swept Iran since the death in custody of Mahsa Amini
in September. Some warnings of imminent executions have proved false, possibly
because protests around specific prisoners have unnerved the authorities.
Iranian ambassadors in Europe are still being summoned over
the execution of two men on Saturday, and Iran is now having to weigh up
whether to ignore the international condemnation over the lack of due process,
including prisoners being denied access to lawyers of their choice.
On Monday, a daughter of the former president Akbar Hashemi
Rafsanjani was sentenced to five years over “propaganda” and “acts against
national security” for encouraging people to join the protests.
Faezeh Hashemi, 60, a former lawmaker and women’s rights
activist, was charged with “collusion against national security, propaganda
against the Islamic republic and disturbing public order by participating in
illegal gatherings”, her lawyer said.
The repression, which is seen by the Iranian authorities as
an appropriate response to injuries inflicted on security officers during the
protests, is stifling any chances of the talks of a renewed nuclear deal,
pushing part of the Iranian regime to look for closer relations with Russia as
an alternative to the west.
Over the weekend the Canadian prime minister, Justin
Trudeau, attended memorials in Toronto for the 176 people killed on Ukraine
International Airlines flight 752 that was shot down by Iran’s Revolutionary
Guards on 8 January 2020.
Trudeau said the Tehran regime did not represent its people,
a position that takes him closer to expelling Iranian diplomats from Canada,
one of the key demands of the protestors in the large and increasingly unified
Iranian diaspora.
The execution of two men, Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Mohammad
Hosseini, on Saturday led to protests around the world, but no immediate
sanctions.
The French foreign minister, Catherine Colonna, described
the executions as “appalling”, adding that France reiterated its opposition to
the death penalty, in all places and in all circumstances. French senators have
also tabled a resolution calling on the EU to end nuclear negotiations with
Iran; designate the Revolutionary Guardsas a terrorist organisation; as well as
several other measures.
The Canadian foreign minister, Mélanie Joly, also denounced
the executions, saying: “Two more lives lost to senseless executions from the
Iranian regime.” Calling on Iran to put an end to such brutal and inhumane
sentences, Joly expressed solidarity with Iranians who have a right to their
human rights.
Nasrin Sotoudeh, a lawyer and human rights activist in Iran,
said due process had not been allowed, turning the executions into “open
murder”.
The Iranian foreign ministry rejected the criticism, saying:
“Remarks of self-styled defenders of human rights are replete with racist
thoughts.”
Iranian judicial news agencies reported that Saleh
Mirhashemi, a karate champion, had been sentenced to death, along with two
others. Amir Nasr Azadani, a former football player, was sentenced to 26 years
in prison.
The Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution meanwhile
slammed the door on relaxing rules around the hijab, saying in a lengthy
statement that western societies had destroyed the family by promoting female
sexuality. “Covering up causes a woman to be recognised in society by her
thoughts and personality, not by her body and beauty,” it said. “This is the
greatest service that religions, especially Islam, have given to women, which
obliges her to observe hijab so that her dignity is preserved and she is not
sold or passed around like a commodity.”