Iran executes protester with mental health condition
Iran’s judiciary has reported the execution of Mohammad Ghobadlou, 23, who was sentenced to death in connection with mass protests against the clerical establishment.
The verdict, tied to allegations of running over a policeman during a protest near Tehran in September 2022, accused him of murder and “corruption on Earth.”
Critics argue that his trial was unjust, marked by torture claims, and appeals regarding his mental health condition were dismissed.
Ghobadlou becomes the ninth person executed in connection with the protests, with others facing death sentences and the risk of further penalties.
The nationwide unrest originated from the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman, in custody, sparking a violent crackdown by security forces that resulted in numerous casualties and detentions.
The judiciary’s Mizan news agency stated that Ghobadlou’s death penalty was carried out on Tuesday after being upheld by the Supreme Court.
Social media videos depict his family, including his grieving mother and aunt, expressing anguish at Qazalhasar prison in Karaj.
Ghobadlou’s mother had previously appealed to the family of the slain policeman, urging them not to seek “qisas,” or retribution in kind. She also highlighted her son’s bipolar disorder diagnosis and his discontinuation of medication before the protests, pleading for understanding of his diminished responsibility.
Ghobadlou’s lawyer, Amir Raesian, wrote on X on Monday evening that the execution would be illegal and amount to “murder”. He argued that the Supreme Court had in July struck down the death sentence because of his client’s mental health condition.
However, Mizan reported that Mr Raesian’s claim was not true, saying the Supreme Court had twice rejected such appeals.
Amnesty International said last year that Ghobadlou had received two death sentences after “grossly unfair sham trials marred by torture-tainted ‘confessions’ and failure to order rigorous mental health assessments despite his mental disability”.
According to information obtained by the human rights group, he was denied access to a lawyer by investigators following his arrest and that he was subjected to repeated beatings and not given his bipolar medication in order to force his “confession”.
It said he was also denied an independently chosen lawyer at his trial before the Revolutionary Court, which consisted of two brief sessions in October and November 2022. At his two Criminal Court trial sessions that December, the lawyer he appointed was denied access to material evidence.
Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of the Norway-based group Iran Human Rights, denounced Ghobadlou’s execution as “an extrajudicial killing”.
“The Islamic Republic’s leader Ali Khamenei and his judiciary must be held accountable for this crime,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
After learning on Monday that the execution was imminent, imprisoned human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi had called on Iranians to express their solidarity with Ghobadlou’s family.
“The execution of Ghobadlou is a deliberate act of murder & a crime & in the face of murder, silence is betrayal,” she wrote in a post on a Threads account run by relatives.
“Don’t leave Mohammad’s family alone. Let’s stand with them tonight. Anyone in any way possible, shout: ‘Do not execute!'”
