By The Associated Press
Iran's state television reported Saturday that the country's authorities executed Navid Afkari, a fighter who gained international popularity for participating in protests against that nation's regime.
He was accused of killing a man.
The possibility that he would be sentenced to death had led US President Donald Trump to ask the Iranian government
to "save his life
.
"
[Trump asks Iran not to "kill" the protesters against him: "The United States is watching"]
Afkari's case drew attention because a social media campaign portrayed him and his brothers as victims for participating in protests against the Iranian Shiite theocracy in 2018. Authorities accused 27-year-old Afkari of stabbing Hassan Turkman , an employee of a water supply company in the southern city of Shiraz amid unrest.
Last week, Iran released the fighter's confession on video.
The segment
recalled hundreds of other allegedly coerced confessions
issued in the past decade in the Islamic Republic.
The case revived a lawsuit within the country for Iran to stop using the death penalty.
"To the leaders of Iran, I would greatly appreciate it if you save the life of this young man and do not execute him," Trump wrote last week on Twitter.
"Thank you!"
Iran responded to Trump's tweet with about 11 minutes of videos about Afkari that included the parents crying of the slain employee;
another of Afkari on the back of a motorcycle saying he had stabbed Torkaman in the back without explaining why.
["The attack caught them by surprise." This is how Iran can take revenge for the bombing ordered by Trump]
The state television segment
showed blurred police documents
and described the murder as a
"personal dispute
,
"
without elaborating.
He indicated that Afkari's cell phone was in the area and showed surveillance footage of him walking down a street, talking on the phone.
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Additionally, the semi-official Tasnim news agency dismissed Trump's tweet in an article, saying that US sanctions have hurt Iranian hospitals amid the pandemic.
"Trump is concerned about the life of a murderer while endangering the lives of many Iranian patients by imposing severe penalties," the agency said.
