Issuance of Execution Order for Protester; Supreme Court of the Islamic Republic: Mohammad Qabdou will be Executed on Tuesday

The lawyer of Mohammad Qabdou, a condemned protester, reported receiving the "execution order" for this prisoner at risk of execution. According to an image of this order published by Amir Reisiyaan, Mohammad Qabdou's lawyer, the "sentence will be executed on Tuesday, January 23rd." Amir Reisiyaan, a lawyer, wrote on social media platform X on Monday, January 22nd: "The retribution sentence for Mohammad Qabdou was annulled by the First Chamber of the Supreme Court and the case was referred to an equivalent chamber (the Fifth Criminal Court of Tehran) for necessary re-examinations by forensic medicine to issue an appropriate ruling." According to Mohammad Qabdou's lawyer, "After this ruling, the case did not reach the Fifth Criminal Court for months, and this chamber requested guidance from the Supreme Court." He stated that the First Chamber of the Supreme Court had announced in the "latest order" that the hearing was "currently suspended pending the outcome of the hearing in Chamber 39," and added: "Now this is the execution order that was sent to us just a few hours ago!" Based on the image Amir Reisiyaan published from the Supreme Court's order regarding Mohammad Qabdou, it states: "The date of execution of the retribution sentence is Tuesday, January 23, 2023." According to Amir Reisiyaan, "Any decision made in the process of Article 477 does not negate Mohammad Qabdou's right for a retrial in accordance with the restoration of proceedings." This lawyer emphasized that "the execution of Mohammad Qabdou's sentence has no legal justification and is undoubtedly considered murder." Mohammad Qabdou, a young protester arrested during the nationwide protests of 2021, was accused of "corruption on earth" through "extensive actions against police motorcycle officers resulting in the death of officer Vahid Kermpour Hasanvand and injuring five police officers." An initial ruling had issued a "retribution" sentence for this defendant, but this ruling was annulled and referred back to an equivalent chamber for further proceedings. After the initial "retribution" sentence for Mohammad Qabdou was confirmed by the Supreme Court of the Islamic Republic, the mother of this condemned protester requested "pardon and forgiveness" from the family of the killed special forces officer. Masoumeh Ahmadi, Mohammad Qabdou's mother, wrote in a message to the family of Farid Kermpour, the special forces officer killed during the nationwide protests for which Mohammad Qabdou was sentenced to "retribution": "I hope that in the honor of your young martyr, you will have mercy on my sick son and, with your boundless compassion and forgiveness, grant a new life to my child." She stated that "we know that the martyrdom of your child is a grief that never ends," and asked the Kermpour family to forgive instead of taking revenge at a time when they can. Previously, Amnesty International had warned about the execution of Mohammad Qabdou and four other prisoners. Additionally, human rights activist Zhila Mostajer expressed concern in an interview with Voice of America regarding the "execution of political prisoners under the shadow of the crisis-making" by the Islamic Republic.