Iran hangs man over 2022 protest deaths, activists say conviction wrongful

France 24

2 days ago

Abbas Kurkuri, also known as Mojahed Kurkur, was hanged at dawn in Sheiban prison in the western city of Ahvaz, the Norway-based Iran Human Rights and Hengaw groups said.
His execution was reported by the Iranian judiciary's Mizan Online website which said he had been convicted by a Revolutionary Court of the capital offences of "corruption on earth" and "waging war against God".
He had been arrested more than two years previously over the deaths in November 2022 at the height of the nationwide protests sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurd detained for an alleged breach of Iran's strict dress code for women.
He was accused of opening fire with a military weapon in the town of Izeh northeast of Ahvaz in an attack that left seven people dead, including 10-year-old Kian Pirfalak, whose death sparked outrage at the time.
At his trial, Kurkuri confessed to the charges and said he had been "under the influence of social media", Mizan said.
But human rights groups said his confession, which was broadcast by Iranian state media and re-published by Mizan on Wednesday, had been obtained under duress and accused the authorities of framing him to take the blame away from the security forces.
'Tsunami' of executions
"During his detention, Korkor endured severe torture and was denied access to legal counsel," said Hengaw, adding that Pirfalak's mother had said at her son's funeral that it was security personnel who fired at their vehicle.
It noted that the execution had taken place on what would have been the boy's birthday.
IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam described the execution as "an extrajudicial killing".
"The Islamic republic authorities attempted to blame him for the murder of 10-year old Kian Pirfalak by forcing confessions under torture," he said.
He said the hanging of Kurkuri, a member of Iran's Bahktiari minority, was the latest in a "tsunami" of executions in Iran, with convicts currently being put to death at a rate of four a day.
According to IHR, at least 569 people have been hanged in Iran so far this year.
Nobel Peace laureate Narges Mohammadi, currently on leave from her own prison sentence, said Kurkuri had been "brutally tortured in solitary confinement (and) falsely accused of Kian's murder based on fabricated claims by interrogators and the regime's judiciary".
Amnesty International said he was convicted after a "grossly unfair sham trial marred by torture-tainted 'confessions' obtained while he was subjected to enforced disappearance".
The London-based group said its investigations had showed "plainclothes security officials used unlawful lethal force during protests in Izeh and fatally fired live ammunition at the child".
"Authorities immediately blamed 'terrorists', but the boy's family repeatedly refuted these claims publicly and attributed the responsibility to the authorities."
Over 550 people were killed in the authorities' crackdown on the protests, according to the IHR's figures. The authorities emphasise that members of the security forces also lost their lives.
Kurkuri's execution comes a day after Iran hanged nine men convicted of plotting to carry out attacks in 2018 on behalf of the Islamic State group.
Iran is the world's second most prolific executioner after China, according to human rights groups including Amnesty International.