Iran's Judiciary Executes 'First Public Execution of 2024'

The judiciary of Semnan province has announced the execution of Mahmoudreza Jafaraghayi's murderer in public. Mohammad Sadegh Akbari, the head of the judiciary in this province, stated on Monday, September 5, that this sentence was carried out based on a definitive ruling from the 49th branch of the Supreme Court, noting that the executed citizen was condemned for 'premeditated murder through gunfire with a hunting weapon.' In response to this news, Iran Human Rights warned about the 'return of public executions,' stating in a statement: 'This is the first public execution in 2024.' Mahmoud Amiri-Moghadam, the director of this organization, emphasized that 'this barbaric punishment' should be condemned by the international community, stating: 'Public execution is an inhumane, cruel, and humiliating act that victimizes not only the executed individual but the general public as well.' The state-run news agency, Mizan, reacted to the publication of this news and the reactions to it, writing: 'This was not an 'execution' but the murderer was subjected to 'qisas' at the request of the victim's family.' The news agency did not clarify why this sentence was executed in the streets of Shahroud in front of the public. Mahmoudreza Jafaraghayi was shot multiple times and killed on August 7, 2022, after getting out of his car in Shahroud. The police chief of Semnan province announced last September, 13 months after this incident, that the 'main murderer' of this lawyer had been arrested and confessed to the murder. Three months later, Rasoul Kouhpayezadeh, the lawyer for Jafaraghayi's family, announced that the second branch of the Semnan Criminal Court had sentenced this individual to public execution. This execution comes at a time when Human Rights Watch reported at least 87 executions within just one month following the presidential elections in Iran, warning about the surge in executions by the Islamic Republic's judiciary. Nahid Naghashbandi, an Iranian researcher for this organization, stated that Iran's use of execution is 'a tool for intimidation' following unfair trials, especially against those seeking reform in the government. According to Amnesty International, at least 850 people were executed in Iran in 2023, a 48% increase from the previous year, which the organization attributed to 'the Iranian government's efforts to instill fear and terror among the people regarding the consequences of protesting against the government.'