The Human Rights Organization of Iran has expressed concern about the recent execution of Iranian protester, Milad Zohrevand, and its potential consequences.
Director Mahmoud Amiry-Moghaddam stressed on Friday the importance of the global community’s response in influencing the Islamic Republic’s use of executions.
Zohrevand, a 20-year-old protester from Malayer in western Iran, was arrested on October 27, 2022, which marked the 40-day anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death, sparking widespread protests across the country.
He was secretly executed in Hamedan Central Prison on November 22.
The Oslo-based Human Rights Organization of Iran argues that his execution, like others, did not follow due process and fair trial, making it a criminal act. Amiry-Moghaddam held the Islamic Republic authorities accountable, stating that “the international community’s relative silence towards the extraordinary wave of executions over the past months has encouraged the Islamic Republic to resume executions of protesters.”
The organization expressed serious concern for the lives of numerous protesters currently on death row or awaiting execution in Iranian prisons, warning that a weak response to Zohrevand’s execution could lead to more protester executions.
According to state media, Zohrevand was accused of killing an IRGC officer, Ali Nazari, on the day of his arrest. He was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder, a decision upheld by the Supreme Court on November 15.
Zohrevand is the eighth protester associated with the Women, Life, Freedom movement to be executed since December 2022.