For Immediate Release – Thursday 8th December 2022
The International Committee ‘In Search of Justice’ (ISJ) condemns the Iranian regime for the brutal execution of a young man arrested during the ongoing nationwide uprising. In an unbelievable act of cruelty, this morning, 8th December 2022, the mullahs’ regime executed Mohsen Shekari, a 23-year-old prisoner arrested during the insurrection. His hanging was ordered by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Mohsen Shekari was sentenced to death in a sham trial, following days of torture which drove him to make a forced confession. He was transferred to a solitary death cell last night. Reports indicate two other protesters arrested during the uprising have also been transferred to solitary death cells and face imminent execution. These two prisoners are Saman Seyedi and Mohammad Boroghani.
Mohsen Shekari was one of hundreds of thousands who have taken to the streets during the nationwide insurrection in Iran. He was arrested on September 25th, shortly after the uprising began, following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, the young Kurdish woman detained by the so called ‘morality police’ for not wearing her hijab properly. Mohsen Shekari is the first protester to be executed.
After almost three months of incessant turmoil, the revolution in Iran has now engulfed more than 280 cities in the country’s 31 provinces. The savage crackdown by the theocratic regime’s security forces has led to the deaths of at least 700 people and a demand for a full-scale independent inquiry by the UN. 30,000 protesters have been detained. In Tehran, a spokesman for the mullahs’ judiciary – Massoud Setayeshi, confirmed this week that another five people had been sentenced to death for their role in the uprising, bringing the total number of death penalties handed down to protesters so far to eight. The mullahs’ regime has executed over 500 people this year, in a wave of killing designed to crush opposition. Many of those sentenced, including Mohsen Shekari, have been accused of “moharebeh” or “waging war against God,” a charge which carries the mandatory death penalty in Iran.
The United Nations Human Rights Council has agreed to establish an investigative mission to probe Iran’s suppression of the nationwide insurrection. There must be no impunity for the perpetrators of these atrocities. Those responsible for the brutal crackdown on the protests leading to the injury and death of thousands of men, women and children and for the arrest, torture and execution of innocent protesters, must be held accountable for their crimes.
The ISJ calls on the UN, the US, the EU and all democratic countries to take practical steps to stop the executions and killings in Iran. Silence is unacceptable.