Iran on Thursday announced the first publically known execution in connection with protests sparked by Mahsa Amini’s death, hanging a man convicted of blocking a street in Tehran and wounding a security officer.
The man identified as Mohsen Shekari was convicted of “moharebeh” — or waging “war against God” under Iran’s law — on Nov. 1 for allegedly attacking a security officer with a knife and blocking a street.
“Mohsen Shekari, a rioter who blocked Sattar Khan Street in Tehran on September 25 and wounded one of the security guards with a machete, was executed this morning,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said.
The revolutionary court in Tehran heard Shekari who had been arrested after attacking with the knife an official of the Basij paramilitary force in the shoulder. The injured official got 13 stitches in the wound, Mizan Online said.
The judiciary said Shekari was found guilty of quarreling and drawing a weapon “with the intention of killing, causing terror and disturbing the order and security of society”.
He was convicted of “moharebeh” — or waging “war against God” under Iran’s law — on Nov 1, said Mizan, adding that he appealed the ruling but the supreme court upheld it on Nov 20.
Protests have swept Iran for almost three months over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by the morality police for an alleged breach of the country’s hijab dress code for women.