The parents of a young Iranian, threatened with execution for his involvement in the protest movement that has been shaking the country for three months, begged the judicial authorities on Monday, December 19 to spare their son, in a video.
Mehdi Mohammad Karami may be the third Iranian executed in connection with protests sparked by the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini.
According to Amnesty International, he is one of five people sentenced to death for an attack that claimed the life of a paramilitary, during a funeral ceremony in honor of a protester in Karaj, near Tehran.
"
I respectfully request the judiciary, I implore you, please, (...) to cancel the death sentence in the case of my son
," Mehdi Mohammad's father, Mashallah Karami, said in a statement. a video posted on social media.
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He describes his son there as a karate champion, member of the national team and having won competitions in Iran.
By his side, his wife, who stands as if cradling a baby, then speaks up to ask that her son, aged in his twenties according to groups close to the protest movement, be spared.
Mehdi Mohammad Karami was sentenced less than a week "
after the start of a hasty and unfair trial which bears no resemblance to valid legal proceedings
", denounced Amnesty.
The execution of demonstrators “cannot take the place of a response to the demonstrations”
Mashallah Karami told local media that the family's lawyer had been denied access to his son's file and that the court-appointed lawyer had failed to respond to multiple calls.
Iran has announced 11 death sentences for involvement in "
riots
", which it accuses
"foreign enemies"
, including the United States and Israel, of fomenting.
These sentences were pronounced after sometimes deadly violence, in particular against the security forces.
According to Amnesty, in addition to 11 people already convicted, 15 are charged with offenses punishable by the death penalty.
Human rights groups believe that the legal proceedings have been botched and are concerned about confessions obtained under torture.
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Two first executions have already taken place, those of Mohsen Shekari on December 8 and Majidreza Rahnavard on December 12, both aged 23.
The last was hanged in public.
The execution of demonstrators “
cannot take the place of a response to the demonstrations
” underway in Iran, condemned the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs on December 12.
"
We are going to approve a set of very, very tough sanctions
," said European diplomacy chief Josep Borrell in Brussels.
"
There can be no impunity
" for the perpetrators of the repression, according to the spokesperson for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs quoted in the press release.
About 14,000 people have been arrested since mid-September, according to the UN, and 469 demonstrators have been killed, estimates the organization Iran Human Rights (IHR), based in Oslo.
Authorities have reported more than 200 deaths, including members of the security forces, since protests began, sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, after her arrest for violating, according to the morality police, the strict dress code imposed on women.