Iran Hangs Man in First Known Execution Over Mass Protests

Iran hanged a man Thursday for injuring a member of the Basij paramilitary force in the first known execution by the Islamic Republic for actions taken over nearly three months of protests.

Demonstrations have spread across Iran since 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died under suspicious circumstances in the custody of the morality police on September 16. after having been arrested for improperly wearing the hijab.

“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 Basij is a volunteer force linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Prosecutors said Shekari was arrested after hitting a Basij guard in the shoulder, causing a wound that required 13 stitches, Mizan Online said. He was found guilty on November 1 of fighting and drawing a weapon “with the intention of killing, causing terror, and disturbing the order and security of society,” His crimes were considered acts of moḥarebeh, or waging “war against God,” a category of crimes under Iran’s Islamic law that is usually applied to acts against the government, and that carries the death penalty. Shekari appealed to the Supreme Court, which upheld the ruling on November 20.

Five people were sentenced in an Iranian court on Tuesday to death by hanging for killing a Basij member. Eleven people have been sentenced to death in connection to the protests in what Amnesty International has called “sham trials.”