Iran has executed three men detained during anti-government protests despite a public outcry over their convictions and objections by rights groups and several governments who say authorities held rushed trials, forced "confessions," and denied the accused due process.
According to a report published by the Mizan News Agency, affiliated with Iran's judiciary, Saleh Mirehashemi, Majid Kazemi, and Saeed Yaqoubi were executed at dawn on May 19 in a prison in the central Iranian city of Isfahan.
SEE ALSO: 'Cycle Of Violence': Prominent Iranian Photojournalist Protests Death PenaltyThe trio were implicated in an incident on November 16, 2022, during which two Basij paramilitary force members and a law enforcement officer were fatally shot in the central Iranian city of Isfahan.
The clash occurred at the height of widespread protests sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September 2022 while she was in police custody for allegedly breaking Islamic hijab rules.
However, based on a picture of the court verdict made public by the defendants' families, the death sentences for the three were not issued for murder, but instead for "waging war against God," a crime often applied to political dissidents.
The trio also did not accept the charge of murder during forced confessions broadcast on Iran's state television.
Public and international calls for the cancellation of the executions have surged in recent days after the Iranian Supreme Court upheld the sentences. Family members of the condemned and supporters have held numerous rallies in front of Isfahan's central prison. They were met with an often violent response from security forces.
Following the announcement of the executions of the three men, Amnesty International said it was “horrified” by the actions, which it said were the result of “flawed,” fast-tracked trials.
The European Union said it condemned the executions "in the strongest possible terms," while Australian Senator Penny Wong wrote on Twitter that “we condemn these reprehensible killings in the strongest possible terms…. Australia stands with the people of Iran.”
The condemned individuals issued their own plea for public assistance, penning a desperate message from within the prison on May 18 that was smuggled out and published on social media. "Don't let them kill us. We need your help," the handwritten letter implored.
A group of Iranian lawyers and jurists emphasized in a letter on May 15 that the legal proceedings, review, and conviction of the three were "illegal" and that "fair trial standards had not been observed in any of these cases."
Authorities warned for months after unrest broke out following Amini's death that they would react harshly to any dissent. Lawmakers have pushed the judiciary to render the death penalty in trials for those arrested during the protests, which are seen as one of the biggest threats to the Islamic leadership since it took power in 1979.
So far, Iranian authorities have followed through with their threats by executing at least seven protesters, including the three on May 19.
Human rights activists say authorities in Iran are using the executions to try to instill fear in society rather than to combat crime.
Amnesty International said in an annual report on May 16 that Iran saw executions soar to 576 in 2022 from 314 the previous year.
The Norway-based Iran Human Rights group says that so far this year at least 256 people have been executed in Iran, including at least 90 in the last 18 days, making May the "bloodiest month" in the country in the last five years.
"What we’re witnessing in Iran are not executions, but extrajudicial mass killings to create societal fear to maintain power," Iran Human Rights Director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said.
"In order to stop the Islamic republic's killing machine, firm and concrete action is needed by the international community and not just expressions of regret and condemnations."
The United States on May 18 urged Iran not to carry out the three executions, but some activists and even Western politicians said that more must be done to stop the wave of death penalties being carried out by Tehran.
"No one knows if they could have been saved, but Germany & the EU don't even try. [German Foreign Minister Anna] Baerbock must finally look and find words for the horror that is taking place in Iran. Silence is not politics!" Norbert Rottgen, a member of the German parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote on Twitter.