Iran’s regime executed three men arrested during anti-government protests despite public outcry over their convictions and objections by friends, family members, human rights groups, and governments who said that regime authorities rushed trials and forced "confessions," preventing them from having a due process.
According to a report published by the Islamic Republic's judiciary website, Mizan News Agency, Saleh Mirehashemi, Majid Kazemi, and Saeed Yaqoubi were killed at dawn on May 19 in prison in the central Iranian province of Isfahan.
The three were implicated last November in an incident during which two regime paramilitary Basij members and law enforcement were shot in Isfahan, following the widespread protests sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was killed by the Islamic morality police for her hijab wear.
Based on photographs of the court verdict made public by the defendants' families, the death sentence charges included "waging war against God," a crime carried to political opponents of the regime. The three individuals did not accept the charges of murder during forced confessions broadcast on the regime's-state run television.
The condemned individuals cried for public assistance, writing desperately from within the prison on May 18 and then smuggling it out to where it was published on social media. The message read: "Don't let them kill us. We need your help."
On May 15, several Iranian lawyers and jurists emphasized that the legal proceedings and charges against the three individuals were "illegal" and that "fair trial standards had not been observed in any of these cases."
The announcement of the recent executions in Iran sparked outrage from Iranian human rights groups and Iranian Americans on social media.
On Twitter, Jason M. Brodsky, the policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), posted a photograph of the three young men who were executed and called for consequences against the Ayatollahs in Tehran.
In response to the recent executions, Norway's Foreign Ministry condemned Iran's recent executions, calling for an "immediate halt to executions," describing the reports as "deeply disturbing."
Following the months of unrest last year, officials in the Islamic government warned that the judiciary would issue the death penalty to those arrested. Since September, regime authorities have kept their promises by killing protesters on false charges.
In a recent report published on May 16, Amnesty International said that the Islamic Republic saw executions soar to 576 in 2022 from 314 the previous year. The actual number cannot be confirmed.
According to the Norway-based Iran Human Rights group, at least 256 people have been executed in Iran this year, including at least 90 in the last 18 days, making the month of May the "bloodiest month" in the country in several years.
Despite warnings from the United States and other European countries not to carry out the executions, the Islamic Republic continues to ignore such condemnations, prompting activists and lawmakers to say that severe actions must be enacted to stop the wave of death penalties.
