Execution of Mohsen Shekari

[8][7] 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 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.

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.

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.

[13] 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, were sentenced to death, but could appeal their verdicts.

[15] 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.

[16] 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.

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

"[4] The deputy director of Chatham House's Middle East and North Africa Program, Sanam Vakil, noted that Shekari's execution sent a message to protestors that the state was "[signifying] the apogee of its toleration.

Amnesty called Shekari's execution "yet another illustration of the fact that the authorities are resorting to the death penalty as a weapon of political oppression.

[and] to instill fear among the public," and called on Iranian officials to "stop using the death penalty as a tool of political repression against protesters in their desperate attempt to end the popular uprising.

[23] Amnesty criticized the judiciary for conducting "sham trials designed to intimidate those participating in the popular uprising that has rocked Iran" and called for Iranian authorities to "immediately quash all death sentences, refrain from seeking the imposition of the death penalty and drop all charges against those arrested in connection with their peaceful participation in protests.