The Iranian regime has executed two more men who allegedly took part in the protest movement against the country's leadership: Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini, who, according to the court, killed a member of the Basij security forces on 3 November 2022.
According to Amnesty International, Karami and Hosseini were sentenced to death on 5 December in an unfair group summary trial, for murder and "corruption on earth" ("Corruption on earth", here is an overview of the charges leveled by the regime against protesters).
According to social media, Mohammad Mehdi Karami (left) was a karate champion, he was allegedly brutalised when he was arrested and tortured in prison. Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini (right) is said to have taught socially disadvantaged children as a martial arts instructor and to have worked as an employee on a poultry farm. He had also been severely abused. On the morning of Saturday, both were hanged.
Here are Amnesty's profiles of the two victims (and here the overview of other possible death penalty victims):):
MOHAMMAD MEHDI KARAMI
On 5 December 2022, a Revolutionary Court in Alborz province sentenced young protester Mohammad Mehdi Karami to death after convicting him of “corruption on earth” in connection with the fatal assault of a Basij agent during protests about a month earlier on 3 November. The court convicted him less than a week after the beginning of a fast- tracked unfair group trial on 30 November 2022 which bore no resemblance to a meaningful judicial proceeding.On 12 December 2022, Mohammad Mehdi Karami’s father told a national new agency that the authorities had not allowed the family’s independently appointed lawyer access to his son’s casefile. He added that the court-appointed lawyer failed to respond to the family’s repeated calls and requests to provide them with the documents needed to appeal the verdict or even share the address of his office.He said: “I have not been able to work... I go to the court and prison every morning and then walk aimlessly in the streets. This morning I went to prison, but the assistant prosecutor stationed in prison was not there. They told me that I must stop going there if my case related to the protests. They do not give you any response. Every night I am terrified that they would give me the news of my child’s execution. I have lost hope... they have sentenced my child to death and might carry out his execution any minute.”Four other co-defendants were also sentenced to death in connection with the same fatal assault. The authorities did not reveal their names, but information gathered by Amnesty International indicates that they include Hamid Ghare-Hasalou (entry No. 7), Sayed Mohammad Hosseini (entry No. 9) and Hossein Mohammadi (entry No. 10). The identity of the fifth co-defendant sentenced to death remains unclear to Amnesty International and he could be one of the following people who underwent the group trial: Reza Arya, Mehdi Mohammadi, Shayan Charani, Mohammad Amin Akhlaghi, Reza Shaker Zavardahi, Javad Zargaran or Behrad Ali Kenari. The Iranian authorities must immediately clarify the conviction and sentence issued against each of these individuals.Before the group trial had started, state media aired the defendants’ forced “confessions” and described them as “murderers”, in breach of their rights to presumption of innocence and freedom from torture and other cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment.9.
SEYED MOHAMMAD HOSSEINI
On 5 December 2022, a Revolutionary Court in Alborz province sentenced young protester Seyed Mohammad Hosseini to death after convicting him of “corruption on earth” (efsad-e fel arz) in connection with the fatal assault of a Basij agent during protests about a month earlier on 3 November. The court convicted him less than a week after the beginning of a fast- tracked unfair sham group trial on 30 November 2022 which bore no resemblance to judicial proceedings.Four other co-defendants were also sentenced to death in connection with the same fatal assault. The authorities did not reveal their names, but information gathered by Amnesty International indicates that they include Hamid Ghare-Hasalou (entry No. 7), Mohammad Mehdi Karami (entry No. 8) and Hossein Mohammadi (entry No. 10). The identity of the fifth co-defendant sentenced to death remains unclear to Amnesty International (entry No.11). Based on publicly available information on the sentences against a number of individuals who underwent the group trial, he could be one of the following people: Reza Arya, Mehdi Mohammadi, Shayan Charani, Mohammad Amin Akhlaghi, Reza Shaker Zavardahi, Javad Zargaran or Behrad Ali Kenari. The Iranian authorities must immediately clarify the conviction and sentence issued against each of these individuals.Before the group trial had started, state media aired the defendants’ forced “confessions” and described them as “murderers”, in breach of their rights to presumption of innocence and freedom from torture and other cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment.