Iran Hijab Row: Amid the uproar created following the killing of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, Iran executed a second prisoner detained and convicted allegedly for stabbing two security force members. The execution, which was broadcasted on local television on Monday morning, showed the accused Majidreza Rahnavard, was hanged for allegedly killing two security forces during the nationwide protest on November 17 in the city of Mashhad.
As per local media reports, Rahnavard was angry witnessing the atrocities of Morality Police in several regions of the country which prompted him to take an extreme step against the security forces. Besides, four other people were also injured during the incident. According to Iran’s Mizan news agency, the deal identified the dead as “student” Basij, paramilitary volunteers under Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. The Basij (ba-SEEJ’) have deployed in major cities, attacking and detaining protesters, who in many cases have fought back.
Nearly 500 were killed in protests in Iran
A heavily edited state television report aired after Rahnavard’s execution showed clips of him in the courtroom. In the video, he says he came to hate the Basijis after seeing video clips on social media of the forces beating and killing protesters. The Mizan report accused Rahnavard of trying to flee to a foreign country when he was arrested.
Although Iranian authorities claimed Rahnavard was the second detainee who was executed publically in the past month, the human rights activists claimed more than a dozen were killed ever since the protest erupted. The activists claimed protestors were sentenced to death in closed-door hearings. As of now, the human rights watchdog group claimed nearly 500 people have been killed in the past three months and another 18,200 people have been detained by authorities.
Why Iran is witnessing one of its biggest and most violent protests?
It is worth mentioning Iran has been boiling ever since 22-year-old Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, also known as Jina Amini, was killed in police custody. Initially, she was detained by Morality Police for not wearing the black scarf (Hijab) properly in a public place. A day after her arrest, she was admitted to a hospital, where Iranian Police claimed the woman suffered a cardiac arrest. However, later, multiple local media reported that the post-mortem description claimed she died of multiple fractures. This created a major uproar against the incumbent government where the protestors started demanding the death of their own President Ebrahim Raisi.
(With inputs from AP)
Also Read: Iran issues death sentence to anti-government protester: Report
