Judiciary Chief Criticizes International Protests Over Execution of 20 Prisoners

Sadegh Larijani, the head of Iran's judiciary, has strongly protested against international criticisms regarding the execution of 20 prisoners in Iran, describing them as 'strange.' In recent days, Iranian officials have objected to international criticisms of the executions. On August 3, Iranian judicial officials announced the execution of 20 members of a group called 'Tawhid and Jihad' on charges of 'terrorist activities.' Shortly after this announcement, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stated that 'vague and general accusations and deprivation of these defendants from fair trial rights have resulted in a 'great injustice in these cases.' Following this, the Iranian Foreign Ministry and the Secretary of the Human Rights Headquarters of the judiciary criticized these statements. The head of the judiciary also stated, like his brother in the Human Rights Headquarters, that the executions of these individuals have nothing to do with their being Shia or Sunni. Reports indicate that most of those executed were Kurdish and Sunni. On August 6, in a meeting with Iranian judicial officials, Larijani said that the protests regarding this issue are 'continuation of the West's dual and contradictory behavior in confronting terrorism' and emphasized that the execution of these individuals was 'legal and religious.' Mr. Larijani repeatedly emphasized in his remarks on Tuesday that these individuals were 'terrorists.' This comes as the UN claims there was a lack of transparency in the judicial process for these individuals and that many of them were coerced into confessing. Families of some of the executed have insisted on the innocence of their relatives, and a lawyer for one of the executed stated that his client had not engaged in any armed actions. The recent executions have also sparked reactions within Iran; Molavi Abdulhamid, the Sunni Friday prayer leader of Zahedan, is among the critics who described this action as 'lacking foresight and tolerance' while referring to the 'sensitive' conditions of the region. The Iranian Human Rights Defenders Association, led by Shirin Ebadi, and the International Federation for Human Rights have also condemned these executions. In this context, the Attorney General of Iran announced that the number of executed individuals from the 'Tawhid and Jihad' group was 20. The Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned foreign positions against the execution of '20 prisoners' and Joavad Larijani protested the UN statement regarding the execution of 20 prisoners in Iran.