Iran on Friday has executed three men convicted of killing security force members during protests triggered by Mahsa Amini’s death last year, the judiciary said, drawing condemnation from rights groups.
Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaghoubi were found guilty of “moharebeh” or waging “war against God” for shooting dead three members of the security forces at a demonstration in the central city of Isfahan on November 16.
Iran witnessed waves of nationwide protests following the September 16 death of 22-year-old Amini, an Iranian Kurd who had been arrested for an alleged breach of the Islamic republic’s strict dress rules for women.
During the protests, which Tehran generally labelled as foreign-instigated “riots”, thousands of Iranians were arrested and hundreds killed including dozens of security forces.
Friday’s hangings bring to seven the total number of Iranians executed in connection with the demonstrations.
Kazemi, Mirhashemi and Yaghoubi were arrested in November and sentenced to death in January.
Mizan said, they were also charged with membership of “illegal groups with the intention of disrupting national security and collusion leading to crimes against internal security”.
It noted “evidence and documents in the case and the clear statements made by the accused” showed that “the shootings carried out by these three people led to the martyrdom of three security forces”.
