Iran’s authorities have secretly executed 21-year-old Milad Zohrevand suspected for his involvement in the 2022 anti-government protests according to a recent BBC Persian report. Zohrevand’s case was brought to light by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, which detailed that he is one among the eight protesters that Iran has confirmed to have executed.
The prosecutor of Hamadan announced the execution of a prisoner, alleging the crime as “killing a government force”, who was named Ali Nazari. The executed prisoner wasn’t named, but according to BBC Persian and various human rights organizations, Zohrevand was believed to be the one executed. Nazari, reported as a revolutionary guard, was killed during the 2022 protests. The execution, however, was denounced by Hengaw, labelling the crime as a “false charge” and condemning the secret killing.
Zohrevand was allegedly denied his right to legal representation in the proceedings. Responding to the execution, the director of Iran Human Rights, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, stressed that such executions without due process should be held accountable as a criminal act. The international community’s recent silence on a wave of executions in Iran may have encouraged the resumption of protester executions, he added.
Further, Iran, with a record surge in executions since the start of the war in Gaza, has been reported to have executed at least 684 people in 2023 by the IHRNGO. The sudden uptick in executions is attributed to the active protests in the country, following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody during 2022. The incident had sparked nationwide ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ protests as reported by the Iranian state news outlet Etemad.
In response to Amini’s death, multiple protests have erupted in Iran, which the authorities have attempted to suppress. In one such incident, Iranian authorities opened fire on protestors in Zahedan on the one-year anniversary of a massacre known as ‘Bloody Friday’. It’s reported that 100 individuals were killed. It’s also noted that local journalists that reported on these protests were sentenced to jail in Iran.
Further information on this can be found in the full report on JURIST – News.