Reactions to the Execution of Reza Rasayi: As Long as the Islamic Republic Exists, 'Poverty, Executions, and Torture' Will Continue

The execution of Reza Rasayi, one of the detainees from the nationwide protests of 2022, has sparked widespread reactions among social media users, with some activists emphasizing that as long as the Islamic Republic remains, poverty, misery, executions, and torture will continue. 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 as the media space was filled with a plethora of news about elections, the new government, Ismail Haniyeh, the Israel war, and Hezbollah.' Nazanin Boniadi, an actress and human rights activist, also described Rasayi's execution as following 'a severely unjust trial' and 'based on forced confessions obtained under torture,' referencing instances of torture that the detained protester endured, including 'beatings, electric shocks, suffocation, and sexual violence.' Additionally, in a post on X, Narges Mohammadi, another Nobel Peace Prize laureate currently imprisoned in Evin, wrote that Reza Rasayi, who 'was arrested during the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, was executed early this morning, August 7, without his family's knowledge.' Masih Alinejad, a journalist and political activist, called Rasayi's execution 'shocking, heartbreaking, and a wake-up call for other prisoners at risk of execution.' He referred to 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 mother of Nika Shakeri, also wrote on her Instagram account: 'Reza Rasayi was executed without a final visit and without informing his family.' She noted the 'sobbing and desperate pleas of Reza Rasayi's mother,' asking: '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 shortly after Rasayi's execution on August 7, 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 constitutional monarchist activist called for 'not to let the Islamic Republic execute the best children of this land.' Negar Korkor, the sister of another protester, Mojahid Korkor, who is also at serious risk of execution, stated that 'Reza Rasayi was executed in silence and ignorance' and urged everyone to 'be the voice of Mojahid Korkor' and not let anything happen to her brother 'in silence and ignorance.' Mahmoud Amiri-Moghaddam, a human rights defender, emphasized that 'while the world's attention is focused on a potential war between the Islamic Republic and Israel, the Islamic Republic is repressing and executing its most significant threat, the people of Iran.' He stated that 'the death sentence for Reza Rasayi was issued based on confessions obtained under torture and aimed at intimidating the people,' and that 'Ali Khamenei and the officials of the corrupt judicial system of the Islamic Republic must be held accountable for this extrajudicial killing.' Amir Hossein Mir-Asmaeili, a journalist, also stressed that the Islamic Republic executed Rasayi, a protester 'against whom there was no evidence,' out of 'anger' following the killing of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Shahram Rafieizadeh, a journalist, remarked that 'the tyrant of Tehran committed another crime by executing Reza Rasayi,' stating that 'the Islamic Republic silences the voices of condemned protesters, political prisoners, and claimants by creating a 'quasi-war' to continue its slaughter and repression.' Moloud Hajizadeh, a journalist, also addressed the officials of the Islamic Republic on X, stating: 'We saw fear and terror in Ali Khamenei's eyes just one day after Haniyeh's death in Tehran, and you are trying to hide your terror and impotence by continuing your crimes and executing the youth of our land, you worthless beings.' Hossein Ronaghi, a civil activist in Iran, described Rasayi's execution as 'governmental murder' and stated: '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 Ronaghi, 'this government, in the face of its failures, whether in foreign, security, military, diplomatic, or any other fields, takes revenge on the defenseless people of Iran instead of being accountable and accepting responsibility.' Daryoush Zend, a human rights activist, also reacted to Rasayi's execution, stating: 'We go to sleep at night in fear of war and wake up in the morning to news of executions. The Islamic Republic is worse than any curse.' Sima Sabat, a journalist, emphasized that 'the Islamic Republic will continue to execute as long as it bears no cost for executions,' and 'it killed Reza Rasayi too.' Mahaan Moharabi, the sister of another protester, Mahmoud Moharabi, who is at risk of execution, reacted to Rasayi's execution by saying: 'Oh, the plight of the helpless and the oppressed.' 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 obtained under torture' from several other detainees in connection with the killing of Nader Birami, the head of the intelligence department of Sahneh, an accusation he had repeatedly denied. The judicial authorities of the Islamic Republic 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 about the risk of execution for this protesting citizen following the rejection of Rasayi's appeal by the Supreme Court. Caroline Wagner, a member of the German parliament and Rasayi's political sponsor, also emphasized that the death sentence was issued based on 'confessions obtained under torture' and described the court handling his case as 'unjust.' A source close to Reza Rasayi told VOA last year that 'despite eyewitness testimony and contradictions in the statements of other defendants, the court issued the death sentence for this protester based on the judge's knowledge.'