The World Briefly

May 22, 2023

Hanging Judgments

Iran

Listen to Today's Edition

Iran executed three men accused of killing security officers during the anti-government protests that have gripped the country since September, prompting condemnation from human rights groups and Western governments, CBS News reported Friday.

A court had found the three individuals guilty of “moharebeh” – or waging “war against God” – for killing three members of the security forces at a demonstration in the central city of Isfahan in November.

Human rights groups criticized the verdicts and accused Iranian authorities of torturing the defendants to extract the “confessions.”

The executions also received condemnation from Australian officials, with Foreign Minister Penny Wong saying the act “exemplifies the regime’s brutality against its people.”

Iran has been grappling with mass demonstrations sparked by the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September. Iranian morality police detained the young woman on allegations that she had violated the country’s strict Islamic dress code.

The Iranian government has labeled the unrest as foreign-instigated “riots” and launched a violent crackdown on protesters. Thousands have been arrested and hundreds killed, including dozens of security forces.

Friday’s hangings raised the number of Iranians executed in connection with the protests to seven.

Advocacy groups warned that Iran has seen a spike in executions since the beginning of the year. Officials hanged more than 582 people in 2022, the highest number of executions in the country since 2015 and well above the 333 recorded in 2021.

Iran executes more people annually than any other nation except China, according to human rights groups.

This story originally appeared in the May 22, 2023 newsletter, Comforting the Afflicters.