Warning of Imminent Execution of Milad Zahravand; Judiciary: Retribution Sentence Issued

The human rights organization "Hengaw" warned that the imminent execution of Milad Zahravand, one of the detainees from the nationwide protests, is approaching. Hengaw stated that the charge against this 20-year-old protester is the murder of Ali Nazari, a member of the IRGC intelligence in Hamadan province. At the same time, the head of the Hamadan judiciary announced that the retribution sentence for Ali Nazari's killer has been issued. Mohammad Reza Adalatkhah did not name the "killer," but according to reports, the accused is Milad Zahravand. The Malayer prosecutor's office claimed that Ali Nazari was "shot dead while pursuing a vehicle belonging to participants in the protests." The account "1500 Tasvir" had previously announced that Milad Zahravand was arrested in Malayer last November under a fabricated scenario of killing a government force and sentenced to death. Reports indicate that Milad Zahravand has been deprived of the basic rights of a defendant during his detention. The Islamic Republic has executed at least seven protesters from the nationwide protests so far. Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, recently called for an immediate halt to executions in his latest report to the UN Human Rights Council regarding the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran. According to Guterres's report, the execution of 582 Iranians in 2022 indicates a 75% increase in the number of executions compared to the previous year, which was 333. Shirin Ebadi, Mehrangiz Kar, Ghasem Shole Saadi, Mohammad Oliaei-Fard, Hossein Raeisi, and Saeed Dehghan sent a letter to Antonio Guterres on Tuesday, June 8, calling for "control or limitation" of the death penalty in Iran and other countries. Additionally, Amnesty International recently described the "threefold" increase in drug-related executions in Iran as "shameful" and reported that since the beginning of the calendar year, 173 people have been executed on drug-related charges in Iran, most of whom did not receive a fair trial. Raha Bahreini, a researcher on Iran at Amnesty International, previously stated to the Persian section of Voice of America about the increase in executions in Iran that the Islamic Republic has many people on death row and that global pressure to combat this must increase.