Mohsen Shekari

Mohsen Shekari (; 24 February 2000 – 8 December 2022) was a 22-year-old Iranian man who was executed by the state of Iran after being convicted of injuring a member of Iran's Basij militia and being accused of Moharebeh, an Arabic word translating to "waging war against God".

Shekari's death was the first known state-sanctioned execution to have occurred as a direct result of the 2022 Mahsa Amini protests. His execution drew immediate condemnation from human rights organizations who expressed concerns that Shekari's execution, as well as the subsequent execution of Majidreza Rahnavard four days later, would catalyze a rash of state executions of protesters.

Reported crime

On 25 September 2022, Shekari attended a protest against the death of Mahsa Amini in Tehran, Iran's capital city. During the protest, Iranian authorities asserted that he blocked or closed off a main road in Tehran, Sattar Khan Street, and wounded a member of the Basij militia, which had been sent in to quell the protests, with a machete. The militiaman required 13 stitches in his left shoulder as a result of the injury, according to the Iranian Student News Agency.

Shekari's family has disputed the Iranian authorities' version of events and claimed that Shekari used non-violent means to separate protestors and security forces. Shekari's uncle, Mahmoud Shekari, told reporters that after witnessing security forces attacking protestors, Shekari had removed a guardrail and placed it in the middle of the street to block off the area.

The Iranian judiciary's news agency Mizan reported on Shekari's charges following the execution; he was also accused of being a "rioter". Shekari's judge had the choice to impose a lighter sentence, including deportation, but he did not opt to do so. Shekari appealed the verdict. The Supreme Court of Iran upheld the verdict on 20 November 2022, despite the fact that Shekari was not represented by his lawyer at the time of the appeal. While at least 459 protesters have been killed by police since the Mahsa Amini protests began in September 2022, Shekari's execution made him the first person confirmed to have been judicially executed for his alleged role in the protests. The footage showed Shekari limping down a hallway and offered excerpts from his testimony wherein he was wielding a knife and reenacting the attack.

On 6 December, a spokesperson for the Iranian judiciary announced that five people reportedly involved in the killing of Rouhollah Ajamian, a member of the Basij, were sentenced to death, but could appeal their verdicts.

Response

Domestic Several activists, lawyers, and Iranian citizens condemned the execution on social media. They claimed that Shekari was denied access to a lawyer during his interrogations and other legal proceedings leading up to his death. Mohsen Borhani, an assistant professor of criminal law at University of Tehran, has strongly condemned Shekari's execution in a debate in Imam Sadiq University, a religious institution founded by the conservative politician, Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani, that has been instrumental in the recruitment of hardliner politicians in the Islamic Republic.

Iranian actor Navid Mohammadzadeh made a post on Instagram reading, "Nothing washes off blood." The post tagged Shekari's name. Another Iranian actor, Taraneh Alidoosti, made an Instagram post following Shekari's execution reading, "Your silence means supporting oppression and oppressors." Many other celebrities have condemned Shakeri's execution and the government's use of sham trials and death sentences, including prominent Iranian footballer Ali Karimi, well-known actresses Golshifteh Farahani and Nazanin Boniadi, and Iranian rapper Hichkas.

Sharyar, a protester who was held in prison before being released, tweeted that he and Shekari had crossed paths during their incarceration and that "Mohsen Shekari loved life — he was waiting for his freedom." He said Shekari was a "quiet young man" who had worked at a Tehran café before deciding to join the protests, and that Shekari held hope that his death sentence would be commuted to 10 years in prison. criticizing The Revolutionary Court's tradition of holding trials behind closed doors, not allowing accused parties to pick their own lawyers, and not allowing accused parties to review the evidence that will be used against them.

In an interview featured in the reformist newspaper Etemad, sociology professor Taghi Azadarmaki warned that the judicial system's punishment of protesters would backfire: "If the system punishes the protesters, people's behavior will become radical, and their patience will end. The news of issuing death sentences and long-term prisons is dangerous. If this trend continues, people will tend towards fundamentalist changes."

Amnesty also reported that Iranian authorities are pursuing death sentences against at least 18 people, 12 of whom were at imminent risk of execution at the time of their report, while 6 were facing trial for crimes that carry the death penalty as the maximum sentence. Foreign Minister of Germany Annalena Baerbock tweeted that Shekari "was tried and executed in a perfidious rushed trial for disagreeing with the regime. The Iranian regime's contempt for humanity is limitless. But the threat of execution will not stifle people's will for freedom"; The European Union said it "condemns his execution in the strongest possible terms".