Iran sentences soccer player Azadani to 26 years in prison and already accumulates 16 death sentences for the protests

The Iranian regime has sentenced soccer player Amir Nasr Azadani to 26 years in prison on Monday for the alleged murder of three members of the security forces, collusion to commit crimes and being a member of illegal groups.

The information of Azadani's arrest, in December at the height of the World Cup, and his possible death sentence provoked criticism around the world from footballers' associations and human rights organizations.

"They kill in the street with weapons and in prison with the law," lawyer Saeid Dehghan said on Twitter on Saturday, about the consequences of the protests in the country.

In addition, this Monday three other death sentences have been known.

The strong police repression has caused nearly 500 deaths, including civilians and members of the security forces, and almost 20,000 detainees since the death on September 16 of the young Mahsa Amini in police custody after being arrested for not wearing the veil correctly Islamic.

Parallel to the harsh response on the street, the courts speed up sentences in trials described as "farces" and "unfair" by the NGO Amnesty International (AI) and opposition groups.

The regime already has 16 death sentences and four public executions—the last two, on the weekend—in an attempt to stop the protests that have shaken the country since September.

The last three death sentences were announced on Monday.

Saleh Mirhashemi, Majid Kazemi Sheikh Shabani and Saeed Yaqoubi have been sentenced to death for

- enmity against God - after being accused of killing three

(paramilitary security forces), on November 16 in the city of Isfahan, according to reported the Mizan news agency.

The three convicted join 13 others sentenced to death by hanging in recent months for the alleged murder of members of the security forces, but also for injuring police officers or blocking streets, according to the Iranian authorities.

Among the inmates is an 18-year-old boy, Arshia Takdastan, who was sentenced to hang last week on charges of being the leader of a mob that demonstrated in the main square of the city of Noushar and committing criminal acts during the riots.

Iranian authorities have so far executed four accused of taking part in the protests: 23-year-old Mohsen Shekari was hanged on 8 December for allegedly wounding a

with a knife, blocking a street and creating terror in Tehran.

Just four days later, a second protester, Majid Reza Rahnavard, accused of murdering two security officers, was publicly executed.

And on Saturday, Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Mohammad Hosseini were executed for the alleged murder of a member of the paramilitary security.

critics

The hangings have provoked strong international rejection.

The European Union, among others, has expressed shock and has repeatedly called on Tehran to promptly quash the death sentences of the protesters.

Several countries, and also the EU, have summoned Iranian ambassadors to express their condemnation of the executions.

The judicial processes have been questioned by human rights organizations such as AI or the UN, which have denounced the trials as "farces", "unfair" and "revenge".

A woman protests outside the Iranian Embassy in Mexico City, while holding photos of soccer player Amir Nasr-Azadani, on Dec. 19.NurPhoto (NurPhoto via Getty Images)

In addition, Iranian activists have denounced that the trials are being held behind closed doors, in record time, with confessions obtained under torture and in many cases without the presence of lawyers.

Rahnavard, publicly executed, was convicted in a one-day trial.

And the family of Karami, who was hanged on Saturday, denounced that they had not been allowed to choose a lawyer and that the lawyer selected for them did not respond to his calls.

Added to the death sentences are an indeterminate number of prison sentences, of which several hundred are known.

In mid-December, Iranian media reported that at least 400 protesters had been sentenced, in Tehran alone, to between 2 and 10 years in prison.

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