Intimidation of the population… International condemnation of Iran for random executions
Iran has executed two people sentenced to death for blasphemy, according to local media, sparking an outcry from human rights group Amnesty International.
The judiciary-run Mizan news website reported that Yousef Mahradad and Sadr Allah Fadhli Zari were executed for crimes including blasphemy and insulting the religion of Islam, the Prophet and other holy sites.
Terrorizing the population
According to the Australian network ABC, the two were running dozens of online anti-religious platforms dedicated to Islamophobia, the promotion of atheism and insulting the holy sites.
Amnesty International condemned the executions on its Twitter page in Iran, writing: “Today’s execution of Youssef Mahradad and Sadr Allah Fadhli Zari on the charge of ‘apostasy’ marks a shocking new low for the Iranian authorities and only strengthens Iran’s pariah status.”
U.N. experts called on Shia-majority Iran to stop persecuting and harassing religious minorities, citing an Iranian policy that targets contrary religious beliefs or practices, including Christian converts and atheists.
According to the network, the execution came amid mounting concern about the escalation of executions in Iran this year, after 2022 saw more people hanged in any year since 2015, according to rights groups, which accused activists of using the death penalty as a means of intimidating the population after anti-regime protests in September last year rattled the religious leadership.
“They have only been hanged for social media posts in a heinous attack on the right to life and freedom of religion,” said Amnesty International.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Vedent Patel said the executions are “a dangerous reminder of the Iranian regime’s propensity to violate and violate the human rights of the Iranian people.”
“Blasphemy laws remain an affront to human rights around the world, including in Iran,” he told reporters.
The director of the Norwegian-based Iranian Human Rights Organization, Mahmoud Amiri Moghaddam, said the execution of “two people for expressing their opinions” should be a “turning point for countries that have values of freedom of expression” in their relations with Tehran.
Government-sanctioned murder
“According to Iranian reports, they were sentenced to death in April 2023, then placed in solitary confinement, and Mahradad is the father of three children, according to Persian media based outside Iran.”
“The execution of these citizens is a blatant example of government-sanctioned killing of citizens with beliefs different from those of the leaders of the Islamic Republic,” said Hadi Ghemi, director of the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran.
“While the Islamic Republic’s law allows for executions for blasphemy, executions of people convicted of such charges have been relatively rare in recent years.”
Human Rights Watch said that an Iranian man was executed in 2013 for questioning the Qur’an account of the life of the Prophet Yunus in the belly of a whale, the vast majority of people executed in Iran were convicted of drug or murder charges.
