PARIS: Iran carried out its first known execution Thursday December 8 over protests sparked by Mahsa Amini'sAmini's death, hanging a man convicted of blocking a road and wounding a civilian in what human rights activists condemned as show trials. Demonstrations have swept Iran for nearly three months since Amini was arrested by the morality police in Tehran for an alleged violation of the country's strict hijab dress code for women.
Mohsen Shekari, a rioter who blocked Sattar Khan Street in Tehran on 25 September and wounded one of the security guards with a machete, was executed this morning, the judiciary's Mizan Online website said.
Human rights activists from abroad condemned the ruling.
Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the director of Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights IHR He said Shekari had been sentenced to death in show trials without any due process. The execution must have rapid practical consequences, he said.
The revolutionary court in Tehran heard that Shekari had been arrested after he struck the member of the Basij military force in the shoulder with the blade, an injury that required 13 stitches, Mizan Online said.
The judiciary said Shekari was found guilty of murder, waging war against God under Iran's Islamic sharia law on November 1, but the supreme court upheld it on November 20.
Since Sep 16th the death of Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish descent, women, university students and schoolgirls have led the demonstrations.
Their peaceful protests included removing and burning their headscarves in the streets, chanting anti-government slogans and confronting the security forces.
Iran, which has struggled to contain the protests, describes them as riots fomented by its allies, including Britain and Israel.
According to an updated death toll issued by the IHR on Wednesday, at least 458 people were killed, including 63 children.