Iran Announces Execution Of Three Men Detained In January Protests
Iran’s judiciary announced Thursday the execution of three men detained in January’s nationwide protests, the first such sentences known to have been carried out. Iran’s Mizan news agency reported the executions and identified the men as Mehdi Ghasemi, Saleh Mohammadi and Saeed Davvodi. Iran typically carries out the death penalty with hangings. The three men allegedly stabbed two police officers to death in Qom, some 130 kilometers (80 miles) south of the capital, Tehran, during the protests. Iran’s judiciary had been threatening to carry out executions of those arrested in the protests. Iran put down the demonstrations with intense violence that killed thousands of people and saw tens of thousands others detained. Activists have warned Iran could carry out a wave of mass executions of those detained in the protests. Iran long has been accused by rights campaigners of extracting coerced confessions from detainees and not allowing them to fully defend themselves in court.
