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They’re a physician, a rapper, a karate champion, a barber and an actor, sons, grandsons and fathers. They’re among the many 13 individuals Iran has hurriedly sentenced to demise in its marketing campaign to quash the monthslong rebellion in opposition to the Islamic Republic.
In December, two males had been hanged in fast succession, the second from a development crane with a sack over his head. Eleven others stay liable to execution, based on the human rights group Amnesty Worldwide, although different teams cite greater numbers, which The New York Occasions was not in a position to independently confirm.
Many of the males have been charged with “moharebe,” a broad time period meaning waging a battle on God and usually carries the demise penalty in Iran.
Their trials had been fast-tracked behind closed doorways by Iran’s Revolutionary Court docket system, with government-assigned legal professionals representing the defendants. The proof introduced has usually been opaque, typically counting on coerced confessions or grainy video footage. Rights teams say that in a few of the instances of the accused, there are accounts and proof of torture.
No less than 15 others have been charged with capital offenses and are awaiting sentencing, based on Amnesty.
Not each element of the judicial proceedings or the alleged crimes may very well be confirmed, however The Occasions interviewed a few of the defendants’ associates and households and corroborated data on social media accounts with activists and stories by Amnesty and different main human rights teams.
This text shall be up to date as particular person circumstances change or new data is discovered.
Sentenced to demise
Sahand Nourmohammad-Zadeh, 26, a bodybuilding champion.
Sahand Nourmohammad-Zadeh was arrested on Sept. 23 in Tehran after taking part in protests. He was accused of burning a trash can and tires and destroying freeway rails. The courtroom’s proof relied on grainy video footage that his lawyer stated doesn’t depict him.
On the day he was arrested, he was instructed he can be executed, he stated in a cellphone name together with his household that was posted on BBC Persian.
Mr. Nourmohammad-Zadeh is a bodybuilder who, based on social media posts, has gained medals in statewide competitions.
He labored at a small jewellery store in a mall, close to which protests broke out in September. Mr. Nourmohammad-Zadeh has stated all he did was kick a trash can exterior the mall and transfer rails that had been already damaged, based on the tape printed on BBC Persian. Greater than 100 staff and store homeowners on the mall signed a petition vouching for his innocence.
A part of a religiously conservative household, he stated that he prays 3 times a day, reads the Quran in his cell and that he didn’t perceive the cost of “moharebe,” a time period he had been unfamiliar with till his arrest.
His two grandmothers made a video pleading for his exoneration. “Our baby is harmless, we’re two determined outdated girls begging you to forgive him,” one of many girls stated.
Mahan Sadrat Marani, 22.
Mahan Sadrat Marani was arrested in late October in Tehran. He was accused of attacking a Basij member with a knife, setting a motorbike on fireplace and damaging a cell phone. The courtroom’s proof relied on low-quality video footage during which no knife is seen, based on Amnesty.
The Protests in Iran
Since September, Iran has been embroiled in demonstrations prompted by the demise of a younger lady, Mahsa Amini, whereas she was in police custody.
Since his arrest, the Basij member and the cleric who filed the complaints have withdrawn them to attempt to save Mr. Sadrat Marani from execution, they stated.
Mr. Sadrat Marani’s father instructed Iranian media that the household had “kissed the arms of the 2 males,” hoping to steer them to talk out in opposition to their son’s sentence. Mr. Sadrat Marani’s grandmothers made a video pleading mercy on him.
After a public backlash and a marketing campaign by the Basij member, Mr. Sadrat Marani’s execution was suspended simply hours earlier than he was scheduled to be hanged at daybreak. His scenario stays precarious.
Pictures on his social media present Mr. Sadrat Marani driving motorbikes and sporting fashionably mismatched sneakers. He skilled as a bodybuilder and lived together with his mother and father and sisters, working three jobs to assist his household get by, based on his two grandmothers in a video enchantment to avoid wasting his life.
Mohammad Boroughani, 19.
Mohammad Boroughani was arrested in Pakdasht, Karaj, close to Tehran. He was accused of wielding a machete, setting fireplace to the governor’s constructing and injuring an official on obligation with a knife. The courtroom, citing Instagram messages, referred to as him “a pacesetter of the riots” in Pakdasht.
“I went out to the streets due to an Instagram story my pal posted. I don’t know something about politics,” Mr. Boroughani stated in his trial, based on a Tasnim Information Company report. When the choose requested him why he took movies of the clashes he replied, “I apologize and mercy. I received caught up within the second and did these items.”
When Mr. Boroughani turned 18, he rapped about his life.
“I gained’t overlook the video games of childhood, bikes and enjoying — we had been so pleased — now we don’t know if we’re down or up — solely reminiscences are left, the extra we become older the much less pleasure — now my solely pal is a cigarette and I’m immediately 18,” he rapped.
His father makes his residing by gathering steel scraps to promote, based on Iranian media stories.
On Jan. 2, Iran’s Supreme Court docket introduced that it had upheld the decision in opposition to Mr. Boroughani.
Mohammad Ghobadlou, 22, a barber.
Mohammad Ghobadlou was arrested in Tehran on Sept. 22, and accused of working over a police officer with a automotive, killing one particular person and injuring 5 others. As proof, the courtroom relied on a confession that Amnesty stated was coerced below torture.
Mr. Ghobadlou labored at a barbershop in Tehran. In his Instagram movies, he joking together with his shoppers: In a single video, he says that in Iran they name the sons of wealthy politicians “aghazadeh,” which interprets roughly as gents, however “the true aghazadehs are those who earn their very own residing.”
On Dec. 24, the Supreme Court docket introduced that it had upheld the decision in opposition to Mr. Ghobadlou.
Saman Seydi (stage identify Yasin), 24, a rapper and graphic artist.
Saman Seydi, recognized professionally as Yasin, was arrested on Oct. 2 in Tehran. He was accused of possessing a pistol and capturing 3 times within the air throughout protests. As proof, the courtroom relied on confessions that Amnesty stated had been pressured below torture.
Mr. Seydi, a rapper and graphic artist, is from Iran’s Kurdish minority and had lived together with his mother and father and two sisters. He posted his music movies on his Instagram web page, usually rapping in Kurdish about social injustice.
“You by no means know the way sturdy you’re till you develop into somebody’s rock,” he wrote on his web page alongside a selfie.
Mr. Seydi’s father, a veteran of the Iran-Iraq battle, instructed the ILNA information company that he labored in a wooden manufacturing unit and had misplaced one son in a automotive accident. He stated that he and his relations had devoted their lives to defending the Islamic Republic and plenty of of them, together with his brother, had been martyrs of the battle.
“My son is an artist, my son will not be a rioter,” Mr. Seydi’s mom stated in a video posted on social media.
Hamid Ghare Hassanlou, 53, a radiologist.
Hamid Ghare Hassanlou, a radiologist, was arrested on Nov. 4 in Karaj, simply exterior Tehran, and was accused of being concerned within the killing of a Basij member throughout protests.
His spouse, Farzaneh, 46, who was with him, has been sentenced to 25 years in jail with out visitation rights. The courtroom relied on confessions that Amnesty stated had been extracted below torture from his spouse, who later withdrew them.
The Iranian medical neighborhood world wide has mobilized to cease Dr. Ghare Hassanlou’s execution, with 1000’s of docs demanding the discharge of him and his spouse.
Dr. Ghare Hassanlou is understood in Iran’s medical neighborhood for having lengthy served underprivileged areas. He constructed a number of colleges in rural and low-income cities, donated medical gear to clinics, handled sufferers without spending a dime and volunteered in a public clinic, based on his colleagues and his household’s on-line posts.
The day earlier than their arrest, Dr. Ghare Hassanlou and his spouse had been driving residence from work once they encountered a big protest honoring a younger lady who was killed by safety forces. Once they left their automotive within the site visitors to stroll, they had been caught up in a melee of individuals assaulting a Basij member, based on his colleague and Amnesty.
In a video launched by state media, Mrs. Ghare Hassanlou may be seen making an attempt to cease the assault on the Basij member.
On Jan. 3, the Supreme Court docket introduced that it had overturned Dr. Ghare Hassanlou’s verdict, citing shortcomings within the investigation. The case was returned to the unique choose for retrial, leaving the physician nonetheless liable to a demise sentence.
Mohammad Mehdi Karami, 22, a karate champion.
Mohammad Mehdi Karami was arrested in Karaj in early November. He was accused within the killing of a Basij member throughout protests in that metropolis. The courtroom relied on pressured confessions that had been broadcast on state tv, based on Amnesty.
Mr. Karami has gained greater than a dozen medals in nationwide karate competitions, based on a video message made by his mother and father.
His household migrated from Kurdistan province to Karaj for work; his father instructed a newspaper, Etemad, that he sells napkins and tissues on the road.
A video of Mr. Karami competing in a karate match reveals him with a crimson belt and an viewers cheering his identify. He bows on the finish and provides a excessive 5 to a different athlete.
On Jan. 3, the Supreme Court docket introduced that it had upheld the decision in his case, although there can nonetheless be an enchantment.
Hossein Mohammadi, 26, a theater actor.
Hossein Mohammadi was arrested on Nov. 5 at his residence in Karaj, and accused within the killing of a Basij member throughout a big protest in Karaj. The courtroom used pressured confessions aired on state tv in opposition to him, based on Amnesty.
Mr. Mohammadi, an award-winning theater actor, wrote poems, sang and acted in a number of quick movies and performs, and gained the most effective actor award at an area artwork pageant.
On Jan. 3, the Supreme Court docket introduced that it had overturned Mr. Mohammadi’s verdict, citing shortcomings within the investigation. The case was returned to the unique choose for retrial. He’s nonetheless liable to receiving a demise sentence.
Manouchehr Mehman Navaz, 45.
Manouchehr Mehman Navaz was arrested on Sept. 25 in Gharchak, in Tehran province.
He was accused of setting fireplace to a authorities constructing and to a number of vehicles, and attacking a safety guard’s outpost by throwing Molotov cocktails. In its choice in opposition to him, the courtroom relied on his textual content messages to a pal, which the choose stated positioned him in a protest, and grainy footage. Prosecutors requested he be hanged in public on the identical place because the arson.
As with different defendants, little or no data is publicly accessible about Mr. Mehman Navaz. He’s married and has two teenage daughters, based on Iran Human Rights Community.
Sayed Mohammad Hosseini, 20.
Sayed Mohammad Hosseini was arrested in early November, and accused within the killing of a Basij member throughout a protest in Karaj.
After a go to to the jail the place he was being held, his lawyer, Ali Sharifzadeh Ardakani, said on Twitter that his consumer had suffered bodily abuse: “He has been severely tortured, overwhelmed up with tied arms and closed eyes, kicked in his head and falling unconscious, overwhelmed up with an iron bar to his soles of the ft and given electrical shocks on completely different components of his physique.”
There may be little or no private details about him and his prolonged household has not spoken publicly to the media.
Mr. Mohammad Hosseini has stated he was on his solution to the cemetery the place his mother and father are buried when he bumped into site visitors and was arrested. “The knife I had on me was for planting flowers and crops round their graves,” he instructed the courtroom choose.
On Jan. 3, the Supreme Court docket introduced that it had upheld the decision in opposition to him, although there can nonetheless be an enchantment.
Executed
Mohsen Shekari, 23, a barista hanged on Dec. 8.
Mohsen Shekari was executed by hanging on Dec. 8, lower than three months after his arrest. He was the primary protester recognized to be killed in an official execution.
He was accused of burning a trash can, blocking a street, stabbing a member of the Basij militia with a machete and threatening public security.
Mr. Shekari had lived in Tehran together with his mother and father. He labored at a espresso store in a working-class neighborhood of Tehran. He preferred dishevelled cargo denims and bandannas wrapped round his wrist, photographs on social media present.
In a single video posted on social media, he may be seen singing at a restaurant accompanied by a guitar.
“I now have one want solely, that’s to see you another time,” he sang. “You’re my lone star.”
Majid Reza Rahnavard, 23, a store employee hanged on Dec. 12.
Majid Reza Rahnavard was arrested on Nov. 19 within the northeastern metropolis of Mashhad and was hanged from a crane in public on Dec. 12, lower than a month after his arrest. He was the second protester recognized to be formally executed.
He was accused of stabbing to demise two members of the Basij militia and wounding 4 different individuals in Mashhad.
A video shared with The Occasions by one in every of Mr. Rhanavard’s kinfolk reveals relations bringing flowers to his graveside. “There may be nothing I feared greater than them taking my 23-year-old son,” his mom may be heard saying by means of sobs. “God rattling all of you who killed my son.”
Mr. Reza Rahnavard labored at a store promoting girls’s clothes and footwear in Mashhad. He was an avid athlete who skilled as a gymnast and a wrestler, based on his household.
In a video taken earlier than his execution and verified by his household, Mr. Rahnavard seems blindfolded with a hand in a solid. Within the video, he tells a reporter, “I don’t need them to cry at my grave, I don’t need them to hope and recite the Quran for me. ” He provides, “Be pleased and play joyful music.”
Leily Nikounazar contributed reporting.
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