Execution of Mohsen Shekari

Mohsen Shekari (24 February 2000 – 8 December 2022) was a 22-year-old Iranian man who was executed by the state of Iran after being convicted of injuring a member of Iran's Basij militia and being accused of Moharebeh, an Arabic word translating to "waging war against God".

Shekari's death is noteworthy for being the first known state-sanctioned execution to have occurred as a direct result of the 2022 Mahsa Amini protests.

His execution drew immediate condemnation from human rights organizations who expressed concerns that Shekari's execution, as well as the subsequent execution of Majidreza Rahnavard four days later, would catalyze a rash of state executions of protesters.

On 25 September 2022, Shekari attended a protest against the death of Mahsa Amini in Tehran, Iran's capital city.

During the protest, Iranian authorities asserted that he blocked or closed off a main road in Tehran, Sattar Khan Street, and used a machete to non-fatally wound a member of the Basij militia, which was sent in to quell the protests.

The militiaman required 13 stitches in his left shoulder as a result of the injury, according to the Iranian Student News Agency.

Shekari's family has disputed the Iranian authorities' version of events and claimed that Shekari used non-violent means to separate protestors and security forces.

Shekari's uncle, Mahmoud Shekari, told reporters that after witnessing security forces attacking protestors, Shekari had removed a guardrail and placed it in the middle of the street to block off the area.

The Iranian judiciary's news agency Mizan reported on Shekari's charges following the execution; he was also accused of being a "rioter".

Mashregh News Agency, which is linked to the state military of Iran, published a video reportedly showing Shekari confessing, although his family doubted the validity of it and raised claims that he had been tortured due to facial injuries.

The video showed Shekari confessing that a friend encouraged him to attend the protests and offered him a bribe to assault a police officer.

Shekari's trial took place on 1 November 2022, presided over by Judge Abolqasem Salavati.

Shekari was found guilty of drawing a weapon "with the intention of killing, causing terror and disturbing the order and security of society," as well as moharebeh, or "enmity against God" under Sharia, the latter of which carries an automatic death sentence.

Shekari's judge had the choice to impose a lighter sentence, including deportation, but he did not opt to do so.

Shekari appealed the verdict.

The Supreme Court of Iran upheld the verdict on 20 November 2022, despite the fact that Shekari was not represented by his lawyer at the time of the appeal.

Shekari was executed by hanging on the morning of 8 December 2022.

He was 22 years old.

His family waited outside the jail awaiting updates on his fate while the execution took place.

The Tasnim News Agency, which has connections with Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, confirmed that Shekari's execution had taken place, but did not provide any other information.

While at least 459 protesters have been killed by police since the Mahsa Amini protests began in September 2022, Shekari's execution made him the first person confirmed to have been judicially executed for his role in the protests.

After Shekari's execution, his uncle criticized Iranian officials for not giving his family possession of Shekari's body for burial.

He accused Iranian officials of sending the family to two separate cemeteries, neither of which contained Shekari's remains.

Multiple families of other protesters killed by police during the Mahsa Amini protests have made similar complaints.

Following the execution, Iranian state television aired portions of Shekari's detention and trial.

The footage showed Shekari limping down a hallway and offered excerpts from his testimony wherein he was wielding a knife and reenacting the attack.

A video was posted to TikTok by an Iranian protest monitor, which depicted a woman, reportedly Shekari's mother, crying in the street with a caption claiming her emotional reaction after his mother was told that Shekari had been executed while the family was still waiting on an appeal.

On 6 December, a spokesperson for the Iranian judiciary announced that five people reportedly involved in the killing of Rouhollah Ajamian, a member of the Basij, was sentenced to death, but could appeal their verdicts.

Amnesty International reported after Shekari's execution that a senior Iranian police commander had signed a document requesting the public execution of one prisoner connected with the protests "in the shortest time possible", specifically requesting that the execution be public "as a heart-warming gesture towards the security forces."

On 12 December, four days after Shekari's execution, Iran carried out the execution of Majidreza Rahnavard in public.

Several activists, lawyers, and Iranian citizens condemned the execution on social media.

They claimed that Shekari was denied access to a lawyer during his interrogations and other legal proceedings leading up to his death.

Many highlighted the fact that there had only been 74 days between Shekari's arrest and execution, which is an abnormally short period in comparison to similar trials.

They also brought awareness that there were other detainees besides Shekari who were at imminent risk of execution.

Even Iranian clerics and legal experts that are seen close to the government, including Ayatollah Morteza Moghtadai, the former head of Iran's Supreme Court, have voiced their opposition to the use of the death penalty in connection with the enmity against God charge that was brought against him.

Mohsen Borhani, an assistant professor of criminal law at University of Tehran, has strongly condemned Shekari's execution in a debate in Imam Sadiq University, a religious institution founded by the conservative politician, Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani, that has been instrumental in the recruitment of hardliner politicians in the Islamic Republic.

Iranian actor Navid Mohammadzadeh made a post on Instagram reading, "Nothing washes off blood."

The post tagged Shekari's name.

Another Iranian actor, Taraneh Alidoosti, made an Instagram post following Shekari's execution reading, "Your silence means supporting oppression and oppressors."

She added, "Every international organization who is watching this bloodshed and not taking action, is a disgrace to humanity."