Iran Human Rights Calls for Strong International Response to Execution of 2 Men for Blasphemy

Islamic Republic’s Judiciary reported the execution of Yousef Mehrad and Sadrollah Fazeli Zare for offences against religion including “blasphemy” and “insulting the prophet.”

Emphasising the inhumanity of the death penalty, Iran Human Rights strongly condemns its use against freedom of expression and beliefs, and calls on the international community for an urgent and serious response.

Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: “Islamic Republic authorities have once again demonstrated their medieval nature by executing two people for expressing their opinions. Today’s executions should be a turning point for countries with freedom of expression values and their relations with the Islamic Republic. The international community must make it clear that the use of the death penalty against the expression of opinion will not be tolerated. The international community’s failure to make a strong stand will be seen as a green light by the Islamic Republic and other like-minded people. This can seriously jeopardise freedom of expression worldwide.”

According to the Judiciary’s Mizan news agency, Yousef Mehrad and Sadrollah Fazeli Zare were executed on 8 May.

Yousef Mehrad was sentenced to death for charges of “insulting the prophet” and “insulting religious and Islamic sanctities.”

Sadrollah Fazeli Zare’s charges were: “insulting the prophet, apostasy, accusing the prophet’s mother of adultery, desecrating the Quran by burning, insulting the sanctities and publishing private photos without permission.”

Iran Human Rights previously reported that Yousef Mehrad, a father of 3 arrested in May 2020, was held in solitary confinement for 2 months and denied access to a lawyer or contact with his family for 8 months.

The death penalty is used for a wide range of “offences” including consensual sexual relations and blasphemy. In 2013, the Islamic Republic executed Mohsen Amir Aslani for questioning the Quran’s narrative on the life of Prophet Younes in the belly of a whale.

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, May 9, 2023

Amnesty Slams Execution Of Iranian Bloggers

Amnesty International condemned the execution of 2 Iranian bloggers executed for blasphemy.

The human rights body said the brutal act only furthers Iran’s pariah status, the two youths hanged solely for social media posts in a grotesque assault on the right to life and freedom of religion.

Iran’s judiciary news website Mizan reported on Monday that Yousef Mehrdad and Sadrollah Fazeli Zare were executed for blasphemy, insulting Islam, its prophet, and other sanctities.

Mehrad, a father of three, and Fazeli-Zare', the caretaker of his mother, were arrested in May 2020 over blasphemy-related charges after authorities accused them and five others of being members of a Telegram channel titled "Critique of Superstition and Religion."

Members of the group reportedly expressed opinions about Islam and its Prophet Muhammad that were deemed insulting by the Islamic Republic.

“The use of the death penalty for such acts is another nail in the coffin of religious freedom in Iran,” stressed Amnesty.

Norway-based monitoring group the Iran Human Rights Organization (IHR) said on Saturday that the Islamic Republic has carried out at least 42 executions in the past 10 days alone, or one person every 6 hours. At least 194 people have been executed this year so far.

“Without urgent international action, the Iranian authorities will continue to deploy the death penalty to torment and terrorize the entire population, crush protests and other forms of dissent, and enforce silence and subservience through brute force,” Amnesty said.

Source: Amnesty International, Staff, May 9, 2023

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