Key Points
- Iran carried out its first known execution over protests triggered by Mahsa Amini's death.
- The Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights says 458 protesters have died over the last three months.
- At least 11 people have been sentenced to death in connection with the protests.
Iran carried out its first known execution Thursday over protests sparked by Mahsa Amini's death, hanging a man convicted of blocking a street and wounding a paramilitary member.
Demonstrations have swept Iran for nearly three months since Amini died after her arrest by the morality police in Tehran for an alleged breach of the country's hijab dress code for women.
"Mohsen Shekari, a rioter who blocked Sattar Khan Street in Tehran on September 25 and wounded one of the security guards with a machete, was executed this morning," the judiciary's Mizan Online website said.
The revolutionary court in Tehran heard Shekari had been arrested after striking the member of the Basij paramilitary force in the shoulder with the blade, an injury that required 13 stitches, Mizan Online said.
The judiciary said Shekari was found guilty of fighting and drawing a weapon "with the intention of killing, causing terror and disturbing the order and security of society".
It convicted him of "moharebeh" - or waging "war against God" under Iran's Islamic sharia law - on 1 November, said Mizan, adding that he appealed the ruling but the supreme court upheld it on November 20.
On Monday, the Revolutionary Guards praised the judiciary for its tough stand and encouraged it to swiftly and decisively issue judgements for defendants accused of "crimes against the security of the nation and Islam".
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the reports of the execution is deeply disturbing - and she urged authorities in Iran to "immediately halt" any plans for further executions.
The director of Norway-based Iran Human Rights, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, said there are very real fears that more executions could follow.
"This execution must have rapid practical consequences internationally," he said in a message on Twitter.
At least 458 protesters killed in three months, rights group says
The protests broke out over the 16 September death in custody of Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin, after her arrest in Tehran for an alleged breach of the Islamic republic's dress code for women.
Women, university students and schoolgirls have led the demonstrations, removing and burning their headscarves in the streets, chanting anti-government slogans and confronting the security forces.
Iran, which has struggled to contain the protests, describes them as "riots" fomented by its arch foe the United States and its allies, including Britain and Israel.
Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights said the security forces have responded with a crackdown that has killed at least 458 people, including 63 children, in an updated toll issued Wednesday.
The crackdown, which has drawn widespread international criticism, has also seen thousands of people arrested, including academics, journalists and lawyers.
The United Nations Human Rights Council on 24 November voted to create a high-level investigation into the crackdown, a move that Iran rejected and said violates its national sovereignty.
Fears for other protesters sentenced to death
The Basij is a state-sanctioned volunteer force that is linked to Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
An Iranian court on Tuesday sentenced five people to death by hanging for killing a Basij member.
The judgement brought to 11 the number of people sentenced to death in connection with the protests.
London-based rights group Amnesty International said it believes at least 28 people face execution - and that number is likely to grow with thousands of indictments issued.
"At least 28 people, including three children, could face execution in connection with nationwide protests as the Iranian authorities use the death penalty as a tool of political repression to instil fear among the public and end the popular uprising."
Additional reporting: Reuters
