EU Responds to the Execution of Reza Rasayi: The Islamic Republic Must Immediately End Executions of Protesters

Following the news of the execution of Reza Rasayi, one of the detainees from the nationwide protests of 2022, by the Islamic Republic in Iran, the European Union condemned "the use of the death penalty in response to domestic dissent" in the strongest terms. In a statement released on Tuesday, August 7, by Peter Stano, the senior spokesperson for EU foreign and security policy, Iranian authorities were urged to immediately cease issuing and carrying out death sentences against protesters and to pursue a consistent policy aimed at "the complete abolition of the death penalty." The EU statement also emphasized the "cruel and inhumane" nature of the death penalty, describing it as a denial of "human dignity" and unacceptable, asserting that execution "does not act as a deterrent against crime." The EU also called for Iranian officials to adhere to their commitments under international law, "including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights." Previously, in response to the execution of Reza Rasayi, another detainee from the 2022 protests, the mother of the victim Mohammad Qabadi emphasized solidarity among grieving mothers, while Prince Reza Pahlavi stated that "Khamenei the tyrant" takes revenge on "innocent people and youth of Iran" whenever he is "humiliated" in public opinion. On August 7, Prince Reza Pahlavi wrote on X: "Khamenei the tyrant took another young life. The cowardly leader of the Islamic Republic, every time his weakness and incompetence become clearer and he is humiliated in domestic and foreign public opinion, takes revenge on the innocent people and youth of Iran." He noted that Reza Rasayi was "a patriotic youth from the Yarsan community in Iran who took to the streets for freedom during the Mahsa uprising, just like thousands of his compatriots," adding: "The regime's thugs arrested him on false charges." Prince Reza Pahlavi recalled that Iranian intelligence and judicial officials had kept Reza Rasayi "under torture and severe pressure in prison for two years" and emphasized that government agents "ultimately executed him at night without informing or allowing his family and lawyer to be present." He stressed that the anti-Iranian regime did not even adhere to its own sham laws and regulations for carrying out the death sentence. Prince Reza Pahlavi also added: "I share in the sorrow of Reza Rasayi and the grieving family and mother. I ask my compatriots to support his family and honor the memory of this patriotic and freedom-seeking young man in the best way possible. The path of Reza and all the immortal heroes of Iran will continue until the day of freedom." The execution of Reza Rasayi, another detainee from the 2022 protests, has sparked widespread reactions among social media users, with some activists emphasizing that as long as the Islamic Republic remains in power, poverty, misery, executions, and torture will continue. Ebrahim Allahbakhshi, a human rights activist, shared images of the mourning mother of Reza Rasayi, writing: "Mama Azar, I am at your service, what have they done to you?" Masoumeh Ahmadi, the grieving mother of Mohammad Qabadi, who was executed by the Iranian judiciary in recent months, expressed solidarity with Reza Rasayi's mother, writing to her: "Sister, we mothers of Iran go every day with a white scarf on our arms to welcome another grieving mother who has sacrificed her child for this land." She emphasized: "With the sorrows we carry, we will be each other's comfort. Today, Mohammad is hosting your Reza." Mehsa Pirayi, the child of the grieving Minou Majidi, stated that government forces buried Reza Rasayi "in the Minaabad cemetery in Kermanshah," where his mother rests, emphasizing that "we will neither forget nor forgive." Soroush Lashkari, a protest rapper known as "Hichkas," also referred to the execution of Reza Rasayi as "government murder" and stressed that the "intolerance and sensitivity" towards these executions "must be constant," stating: "In Iran occupied by the Islamic Republic, every day the Iranian people are killed in various ways by this terrorist force, and we are unaware of it." Shirin Ebadi, a prominent human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, stated on Tuesday, August 7, that the Islamic Republic executed Reza Rasayi "just when the media space was filled with a plethora of news about elections, the new government, Ismail Haniyeh, the war in Israel, and Hezbollah." Nazanin Boniadi, an actress and human rights activist, also described the execution of Reza Rasayi as following "a severely unjust trial" and "based on forced confessions under torture," referencing the types of torture this detained protester endured, including "beatings, electric shocks, suffocation, and sexual violence." Additionally, in a post on X, Narges Mohammadi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate currently imprisoned in Evin, wrote that Reza Rasayi, who was "arrested during the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, was executed early on Wednesday, August 7, without his family's knowledge." Masih Alinejad, a journalist and political activist, also described the execution of Reza Rasayi as "shocking, heartbreaking, and a wake-up call for other prisoners at risk of execution." She referred to Reza Rasayi as "one of the brave protesters" who "took to the streets after the brutal killing of Mahsa Amini and was executed today." Nasrin Shakeri, the grieving mother of Nika Shakeri, also wrote on her Instagram account: "Reza Rasayi was executed without a final visit and without his family being informed." She referenced "the cries and pleading of Reza Rasayi's grieving mother," writing: "To whom have we submitted to obedience and slavery? ... Oh God, how have we submitted to this humiliation?" Yashar Tabrizi, a civil activist in Iran, stated on Tuesday, August 7, shortly after the execution of Reza Rasayi, in a video message on X, that "as long as the Islamic Republic remains in this land, we will witness poverty, misery, homelessness, misfortune, despair, social anomalies, repression, torture, detention, imprisonment, and executions every day." This constitutionalist civil activist called for "not to allow the Islamic Republic to execute the best children of this land." Negar Korkor, the sister of the grieving Mojahid Korkor, another protester at serious risk of execution, stated that "Reza Rasayi was executed in silence and ignorance" and called on everyone to "be the voice of Mojahid Korkor" and not to allow something to happen to her brother "in silence and ignorance." Mahmoud Amiri Moghaddam, a human rights defender, also emphasized that "while all the world's attention is on the potential war between the Islamic Republic and Israel, the Islamic Republic is focusing on suppressing and executing its most significant threat, the Iranian people." According to him, "the death sentence for Reza Rasayi was issued based on confessions obtained under torture and aimed at intimidating the people," and "Ali Khamenei and the officials of the corrupt judicial system of the Islamic Republic must be held accountable for this extrajudicial killing." Amir Hossein Mirasmaili, a journalist, also emphasized that the Islamic Republic executed Reza Rasayi, a protester against whom "there was no evidence," out of "anger" over the killing of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Shahram Rafizadeh, a journalist, stated that "the tyrant of Tehran committed another crime by executing Reza Rasayi," noting that "the Islamic Republic silences the voices of condemned protesters, political prisoners, and seekers of justice by creating a 'pseudo-war' to continue its massacre and repression." Moloud Hajizadeh, a journalist, also wrote to Iranian officials on X: "We saw the fear and terror in Ali Khamenei's eyes one day after Haniyeh's demise in Tehran, and you are trying to hide your terror and impotence with the continuation of your crimes and the execution of the youth of our land, you worthless beings." Hossein Ronaghi, a civil activist in Iran, also described the execution of Reza Rasayi as "government murder," stating: "We are dealing with a government that makes the Iranian people pay for every blow it receives. A government alien to this land, which is not of the people and seems to have occupied Iran." According to Mr. Ronaghi, "this government, in the face of its failures, whether in foreign, security, military, diplomatic, or any other arenas, instead of being accountable and accepting responsibility, takes revenge on the defenseless people of Iran." Daryush Zand, a human rights activist, also reacted to the execution of Reza Rasayi, stating: "We go to bed at night in fear of war and wake up to news of executions. The Islamic Republic is worse than any curse." Sima Sabat, a journalist, also emphasized that "the Islamic Republic will continue to execute as long as it faces no consequences for its actions," and "Reza Rasayi was also killed." Mahaan Mehrabi, the sister of the grieving Mahmoud Mehrabi, another protester at risk of execution, reacted to the execution of Reza Rasayi, saying: "Oh, the lament for the helplessness and injustice." Reza (Gholamreza) Rasayi, a 34-year-old protester from Sahneh in Kermanshah province and a follower of the Yarsan faith, was sentenced to death based on "forced confessions under torture" from several other detainees in connection with the killing of Nader Birami, the head of the intelligence department of Sahneh, a charge he repeatedly denied. Iranian judicial authorities executed Reza Rasayi early on Tuesday, August 7, without a final visit in the central prison (Dizelabad) of Kermanshah and secretly buried his body without informing his family. Several human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, had previously warned of the risk of execution for this protesting citizen after the Supreme Court of Iran rejected Reza Rasayi's appeal. Caroline Wagner, a member of the German parliament and a political sponsor of Reza Rasayi, also emphasized that the death sentence was based on "confessions obtained under torture" and described the court proceedings in his case as "unjust." A source close to Reza Rasayi told Voice of America last year that "despite eyewitness testimony and contradictions in the statements of other defendants, the court issued a death sentence for this protester based on the judge's discretion."