Iran Carries Out Second Execution Over Anti-Government Protests

Iran carried out its second execution amid the nationwide anti-government protests that sparked after Mahsa Amini's death. Iran's Mizan news agency, under the judiciary, identified the prisoner executed as Majidreza Rahnavard.

Rahnavard was convicted over allegedly stabbing two security force members to death on November 17 and wounding four others. He was among six other people on trial facing charges carrying the death penalty. Human rights activists described them as "sham trials".

Suggested Reading: Iran Carries Out First Known Execution Amid Ongoing Protests

Iran Carries Out Second Execution

State media footage showed a man chasing another around and street corner and stabbing him to death. The assailant has been alleged to be Rahnavard.

The deceased was identified as a "student" Basij, a group of paramilitary volunteers. The Basij volunteers were seen in major cities attacking and detaining protesters.

According to the claims made by Iran's state media, Rahnavard confessed to the charges, but opposition sources claim he was not given access to a lawyer and was tortured.

On Thursday, December 8, Iran executed the first prisoner detained amid protests.

The 23-year-old Mohsen Shekari was the first Iranian protester to be executed since the nationwide protests. He was given a death sentence and charged with "warfare" for allegedly injuring a security guard.

Activists have warned that at least a dozen people have already been sentenced to death.

According to human rights groups, in the violent crackdown against the protests, at least 488 people have been killed since the protests began in mid-September. Authorities have detained around 18,200 people.

News agency Mizan said Majidreza Rahnavard was convicted in Mashhad's Revolutionary Court. The tribunals have been criticised for not allowing the people on trial to pick their own lawyers or see the evidence against them.

Rahnavard was convicted on the charge of 'moharebeh', meaning "waging war against god". The charge carries the death penalty.

According to Amnesty International, a document obtained by them was signed by a senior police commander asked that the execution for a prisoner take place "in the shortest possible time" and that the death sentence be carried out in public as a "heart-warming gesture" toward the security forces.