On November 6, Amnesty International issued a statement warning that Reza (Gholamreza) Rasai, 34, one of the detainees of last year’s nationwide protests in Iran, is at risk of execution.
Amnesty International says that Reza (Gholamreza) Rasai has been arrested in relation to the September-December 2022 nationwide protests in Iran and has been subjected to “torture.”
According to the report, following a grossly unfair trial, on 7 October 2023, Branch Two of Criminal Court 1 of Kermanshah province convicted him of “murder” and sentenced him to death, admitting his torture-tainted forced “confessions” as “evidence”.
“In the verdict, the court summarily dismissed Reza Rasaei’s retraction of his forced ‘confession’, which he had said during trial was obtained under torture and other ill-treatment during interrogations, without conducting investigations”, Amnesty International reported.
Reza (Gholamreza) Rasaei, aged 34, hails from Iran’s oppressed Kurdish and Yaresan ethnic and religious minorities.
The nationwide protests last year began in response to the death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini, a 22-year-old woman from Saqqez who died in the custody of the Morality Police.
The death of Mahsa Amini sparked a wave of nationwide protests against the Iranian regime, which were unprecedented in terms of geographical spread and duration.
According to the statements of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), during the nationwide uprising of the Iranian people, at least 750 individuals were killed by regime security forces.
Amnesty International warned, “To date, the authorities have arbitrarily executed seven men in connection with protests after grossly unfair trials marred by torture allegations. On 19 May 2023, Iranian authorities executed Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaghoubi, who were put on trial in December 2022 and January 2023, and sentenced to death on the vaguely worded and overly broad charge of ‘enmity against God’ (moharebeh).”
