More executions in Iran: Silence is unethical, inhuman and self-defeating

On 7 January, Iran executed another two young men on charges of ‘spreading corruption on earth’ during the morning call to prayers. This time it was Mohammad Mehdi Karami, 21, a karate champion and Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini, 20, a volunteer children’s coach.

Within weeks of being arrested and convicted, the two were executed after being tortured to elicit false confessions and denied the rights to an attorney or appeal. Their families were not permitted to see them before they were killed.

The current executions are a continuation of the killing of protestors on the streets of Iran since the murder of Mahsa Jina Amini by the regime’s morality police on 16 September. Since then, over 500 protestors have been killed, 18,000 arrested, many of them children.

More continue to be killed like Aida Rostami, a nurse beaten to death for assisting wounded protestors. Arrests also continue, including a chef for posting a recipe on cutlets and the well-known Iranian atheist and ex-Muslim Soheil Arabi. Arabi was beaten so badly during his arrest that he reportedly had a heart attack and was taken to hospital. He is now being held in Greater Tehran Prison. Over 40 atheist, ex-Muslim and secularist organisations, including One Law for All, have taken on his political sponsorship in order to demand his release and freedom for political prisoners.

Spokesperson Maryam Namazie says: ‘By executing, torturing, arresting and killing young women and men, the Islamic regime of Iran aims to suppress the women’s revolution that has inspired the world with its slogan ‘Woman, Life, Freedom.’ There is no turning back, however. Whilst we mourn the loss of the best of our best, the people of Iran, and Generation Z in particular, are not backing down. They want and deserve to live a normal life that is impossible under a theocracy. The establishment of an Islamic regime in Iran saw the rise of fundamentalism across the globe. If the world wants to see this revolution against fundamentalism reach fruition, then it must take a stand against the regime and with the people of Iran. Silence is unethical, inhuman and self-defeating.’