Mohammad Qobadlou at a court hearing, Tehran, Iran, December 10, 2022
UPDATE, JAN 29:
Amnesty International says the recent executions of Mohammad Qobadlou and Farhad Salimi, following “egregiously unfair” trials, are a “harrowing descent into new realms of cruelty”.
Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement:
The arbitrary execution of Farhad Salimi lays bare a distressing pattern of the Iranian authorities’ disproportionate use of the death penalty against Iran’s oppressed ethnic minorities.
The arbitrary execution of Mohammad Ghobadlou dumbfounded his loved ones and lawyer, who were awaiting his retrial, unaware that judicial authorities at the highest levels bypassed legal processes in secret and blatantly flouted the basic principles of humanity and the rule of law.
The Iranian authorities’ relentless killing spree in the aftermath of the “Woman Life Freedom” uprising, which has led to the arbitrary execution of hundreds of people after grossly unfair trials in the past year, underscores the need for the renewal and extension, respectively, of the mandates of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran and the UN Fact-Finding Mission in the upcoming session of the UN Human Rights Council.
It is also time for states to initiate criminal investigations under the principle of universal jurisdiction against all those suspected of criminal responsibility for crimes under international law, including top Iranian officials.
ORIGINAL ENTRY, JAN 27: Iran’s authorities have executed another participant in the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests from September 2022.
Mohammad Qobadlou, 23, was hanged on Tuesday. He was accused of killing a policeman during the nationwide demonstrations sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, detained and reportedly beaten by “morality police” over “inappropriate attire”.
Qobadlou is the ninth demonstrator to be put to death.
USee also Iran Protests — More Executions and Death Sentences
Iranians used social media to criticize the execution, expressing general opposition to the death penalty and concern over others facing the scaffold.
The Instagram page of Nobel Peace Prize laureate and political prisoner Narges Mohammadi announced that more than 60 women in Tehran’s Evin Prison had gone on hunger strike.
Iran’s leading Sunni cleric and the Friday Prayer leader in Zahedan, Molavi Abdol Hamid challenged “forced confessions of prisoners” and “arbitrary executions”.
Iran is second only to China in number of executions. Estimates of hangings range from 576 to 746 in 2023, and the authorities have escalated the killings in recent months.
Among the latest victims is Farhad Salimi, a Sunni Kurdish man who had been imprisoned since 2009. Amnesty International said his trials were “grossly unfair”, noting allegations of torture.
Human Rights Watch has raised concerns about 11 other prisoners at “imminent risk” of hanging. Eight of them are Kurdish, amid a rise in executions of members of ethnic minorities.
Labor Strike Hits Iran’s Kurdistan After Executions
https://iranwire.com/en/news/124826-labor-strike-hits-irans-kurdistan-after-executions/
Iranian Principal Accused Of Beating 11-Year-Old Schoolgirl After Her Hijab Slipped Off
https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-schoolgirl-beaten-hijab-principal/32797548.html
Guardians Council will review objections of Rouhani and others regarding disqualification: https://www.farsnews.ir/news/14021107000558
138 out of 510 candidates for the Assembly of Experts have been approved with Raisi being the sole candidate in his provincial constituency of South Khorasan. The Guardians Council, whose staff vets the candidates, is open to appeals if submitted. In the event there is still only one person running for a constituency, they will offer to move a candidate from another constituency to compete against him. There are 88 seats in the Assembly. In the Majlis elections, 12, 711 candidates have so far been approved out of 21,000 who applied. The formal appeals process for both ends on Feb 8th but some appeals to the 12-man Guardians Council itself could continue right up to the eve of the elections.