Iran executes another prisoner detained during nationwide protests that erupted in 2022
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran on Tuesday hanged another prisoner over crimes committed during nationwide protests that erupted in 2022 following the death of a young woman detained for improperly wearing her headscarf.
The hanging of Mohammad Qobadlu, who had been convicted in the death of a policeman, drew condemnation from U.N. experts who said Qobadlu faced unfair proceedings. It was the ninth execution since the protests, according to a count by The Associated Press.
A report on state television said Qobadlu was executed after being sentenced for killing a policeman and injuring five others when he ran them over in his car during a rally in the town of Parand, near the capital of Tehran.
The TV report said the 23-year-old Qobadlu, who had confessed to his crime, had access to a lawyer during the trial. Qobadlu had appealed his death sentence, handed down by a lower court, but the Supreme Court later upheld the original verdict.
Later Tuesday, a group of U.N. experts strongly condemned the execution of Qobadlu in a statement, saying that he had suffered from a psychosocial disability. The group said it was “alarmed” by reports of unfair trial proceedings against him and other defendants, including what they maintained was the denial of access to lawyers.
Qobadlu's lawyer, Amir Raisian, said in a tweet on “X” said the verdict and sentence came despite his efforts to appeal for another trial for his client. He said such an execution could be characterized as “murder.”
The monthslong unrest followed the Sept. 16, 2022 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who had been detained by Iran’s morality police allegedly because she improperly wore the mandatory Islamic veil, or hijab.
At least 529 people have been killed and scores of thousands of others have been detained in the demonstrations. The protests gradually died down in the early months of last year.
In December, Iran executed a bank guard convicted of fatally shooting a senior cleric last April. Ayatollah Abbas Ali Soleimani, 77, was the most senior member of the clergy who was killed since the protests and the subsequent security crackdown on the demonstrators. The guard's motive for the shooting were not explained.
Though Shiite clergy have long held an important role in Iran, particularly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, discontent has increased in recent years during waves of protests over economic, political and civil rights issues.
In November, Iran hanged Milad Zhohrevand, 21, in the western city of Hamadan for shooting and killing a member of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard during the protests.
Separately on Tuesday, Iran hanged Farhad Salimi, a Kurdish cleric who had spent 14 years behind bars over the killing of another clergyman, human rights groups reported. Iran has offered no elaboration.
