By Ben Kerrigan-
The terrorist Iranian regime gave a protester just 15 minutes to defend himself against the country’s evil death penalty, after confessions obtained using torture.
The hypocritical Islamic regime whose wickedness is comparable with the devil himself, executed four young men in connection with the nationwide protests that erupted in Iran four months ago, while 18 other people have been sentenced to death.
Iran is notorious for denying fundamental human rights to its citizens, whom it continuously subject to inhumane punitive measures for challenging the country’s despotic practices.
Human rights groups decried the trials as unfair sham trials.
Iranian Human Rights reports that at least 109 protesters are currently at risk of execution, having been sentenced to death or charged with capital offences. It has established the ages of 60 of those protesters, and says the average is 27, with three under 18.
Mohammad Mehdi Karami, a 22-year-old karate champion, was hanged on 7 January, just 65 days after his arrest, falsely accused of killing a member of the paramilitary Basij force during protests in the city of Karaj on 3 November.
He was later charged with the offence of ‘corruption on Earth’, which carries a sentence of the death penalty. Predominantly edited footage from his hearing was later broadcast on television, characteristic of the despotic Iranian regime.
One clip from the trial reveals a visibly distressed Karami admitting to hitting the man with a rock. He subsequently sits back down, saying that he had been ‘fooled’.
Seyed Mohammad Hosseini was also sentenced to death for his part in the alleged murder, and was also hanged earlier this month.
The regime also hanged Hosseini along with Mohammad Mahdi Karami for allegedly killing a member of the security forces during nationwide protests that were triggered following the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in police custody in September.
The convictions were not based on a criminal charge related to the murder, but they were charged with ‘moharebeh’, meaning “war against God”, a vague religious concept ironically implemented by a very callous group of human beings. The Islamic Republic applies the charge to people who might get into a confrontation with security forces during protests.
Condemnation
The executions have been condemned by many countries and summoning of Islamic Republic envoys in several capitals, as well as a global outcry by politicians and human rights activists. Moreover, lawyers of the two young protesters say the judiciary executed them so hastily that there was no chance for legal follow-up on their cases.
Protests generally continue usually during the mourning ceremonies for the third, seventh and the 40th day after the death of protesters, the Islamic Republic is issuing death sentences, long prison terms and floggings to quell the revolt.
The corrupt Iranian judiciary announced this week that a court has sentenced three others to death for “war against God” in a case known in media as the “Khane-ye Esfahan.” Three more were also sentenced to death in another case over anti government protests in the northern city of Nowshahr. One of them, Javad Rouhi, received three death sentences on charges of “corruption on earth” and “moharebeh” and “Apostasy through desecration of the Quran and other Islamic sanctities as well as burning the Quran.
Recently a man from Sydney, Mohammed Hashemi, has joined the desperate campaign to save his cousin, Majid Kazemi, from execution in Iran.
Mr Kazemi is among four men accused of being involved in the deaths of three Basij militia members during anti-government protests in the Iranian city of Isfahan.
He was in prison for a month before his cousin, northern Sydney’s Mohammed Hashemi, learnt of the arrest.
“After they arrested Majid [Kazemi], they arrested his brother just because he was with him [at the time of the arrest],” Mr Hashemi says.
“They tortured his brother so Majid would confess, otherwise they threatened to execute his brother as well.
Protest Movement
The protest movement began after the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was detained by morality police in September for allegedly not wearing the mandatory headscarf “properly”.
Authorities dismissed the unrest as “rioting” and launched a violent crackdown. At least 481 protesters have been killed by security forces, according to Iran Human Rights, a Norway-based non-governmental organisation.
Karami was arrested in connection with the murder of a member of the paramilitary Basij force during protests in the city of Karaj, just west of Tehran, on 3 November.
He was later charged with the capital offence of “corruption on Earth” and went on trial before a Revolutionary Court in Karaj on 30 November along with 16 other people, including three children, also accused of involvement in the murder.
Defendants are entitled to legal representation in Iran, but in sensitive cases like this one, or in espionage cases, they are not allowed to choose their own lawyers. Instead, the court appoints one from a list approved by the judiciary.
Trial
Sixteen defendants were tried in connection with the murder of a member of the paramilitary Basij force.
Journalists and members of the defendant’s family are also barred from being in court, so the only window into what happens behind the closed doors is heavily edited footage released by the judiciary.
In one such video, Karami appears visibly distressed as he “confesses” to hitting the Basij member on the head with a rock. His court-appointed lawyer does not challenge or dispute this and, instead, asks the judge for forgiveness. Karami then says he was “fooled” and sits down.
On 5 December, Karami was convicted and sentenced to death. Four of his co-defendants were also sentenced to death, while the children and eight others were handed lengthy jail terms, according to the judiciary.
Mohammad’s father, Mashaalah Karami, who works as a street vendor selling packets of tissues, recalled his son’s tearful last call in an interview to the Etemad newspaper. He said his son had called him in tears the day that he was sentenced to death.
“Dad, they gave us the verdict. Mine is the death penalty. Don’t tell Mum anything,” his father recalled, reiterating his son’s innocence.
Tortured
Opposition activist group 1500 Tasvir published an account on social media alleging that Karami had been tortured.
It said he had told his family during a meeting in prison that he had been beaten unconscious by guards. The guards had assumed he was dead and dumped his body in a remote area, but as they left they had realised he was still alive, it added.
Karami also told his family that security agents had “touched his genitals every day and threatened to rape him” during interrogations, according to the account.
Under Iran’s legal system, when a lower court passes a death sentence it is sent to the Supreme Court for approval. But even if the Supreme Court endorses the death penalty, it can still be appealed.
Karami’s father told Etemad that he had tried to contact the state-appointed lawyer multiple times, but there had been no response.
The family then tried to hire one of Iran’s most prominent human rights lawyers, Mohammad Hossein Aghasi.
“Mohammad called me from prison three times and asked me to represent him. His parents also urged me to represent their son,” Mr Aghasi said.
Letters written by Mr Aghasi wrote to the local court and then to the Supreme Court were ignored or rejected and an appeal against the Supreme Court decision was also ruled out by a judge.
Authorities have repeatedly said the fast-track trials of protesters and the harsh sentences handed out are meant as a deterrent.
Seyed Mohammad Hosseini, a 39-year-old volunteer children’s coach, was also hanged on 7 January, after standing trial alongside Karami for the same crime.
His parents are dead, so there was no family-led campaign on social media to save his life after he was sentenced. However, many Iranians shared a post saying: “We are all Mohammad’s family.”
Hosseini, who was bipolar, did manage to get independent legal representation after the Supreme Court had upheld his death sentence.
Seyed Mohammad Hosseini also appeared in a highly edited video released by the authorities
Lawyer Ali Sharifzadeh Ardakani was able to visit him in prison in December and later tweeted about it.
“He cried throughout the visit. He talked about torture, being beaten while handcuffed and blindfolded, and being kicked in the head and losing consciousness,” Mr Ardakani wrote.
“[He is] a man whose confessions have all been obtained under torture and have no legal validity.”
Mr Ardakani submitted papers to appeal the Supreme Court decision and was told to return to court on 7 January, but on his way there heard Hosseini had been hanged.
Iran’s cyber protesters have issued a resounding call for the world to recognise Iran’s notorious Revolutionary Guard as “terrorists”, with #IRGCterrorists posted more than 2.7 million times for two days in a row.
They organised a large protest on Monday outside the European Parliament in Strasbourg calling for international action against the Iranian regime, reportedly one of the largest international protests seen since the start of the ongoing demonstrations.