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Paris (AFP) – Iran on Monday hanged two men on charges of spreading blasphemy on social media, prompting US condemnation and accusations from Amnesty International the Islamic republic has reached a “new low” in a spree of executions.
Sadrollah Fazeli Zare and Youssef Mehrdad, convicted of desecrating the Koran and insulting the Prophet Mohammed, were hanged in the morning in a prison in the central city of Arak, the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said.
Their execution came as concern intensifies about a spike in executions in Iran this year, after 2022 saw more people hanged than in any year since 2015, according to rights groups.
Activists accuse the authorities of using capital punishment as a means to intimidate the population after anti-regime protests that erupted in September last year shook the clerical leadership.
Amnesty said in a statement Monday’s execution represented “a shocking new low for Iran’s authorities and only furthers Iran’s pariah status”.
“They were hanged solely for social media posts in a grotesque assault on the rights to life and freedom of religion.”
In Washington, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said the executions were a “grave reminder of the Iranian regime’s penchant for abusing and violating the human rights of Iranian people.”
“Blasphemy laws remain an affront to human rights worldwide, including in Iran,” he told reporters.
The director of Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR), Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, said the execution of “two people for expressing their opinions” should be a “turning point for countries with freedom of expression values” in their relations with Tehran.
‘Government-sanctioned murder’
The pair were accused of operating social media channels and groups that promoted atheism and insulted Islamic “sanctities”, Mizan said.
It added one of them in March…
Source : france24
