Iran executed on Tuesday a young man with an alleged history of mental illness who was accused of killing a police officer and injuring five others during the anti-regime protests in 2022, despite his attorney saying his murder charge was overturned by the Supreme Court and pleas by his family and rights activists following reports of his imminent execution a day earlier.
Mohammad Ghobadlou, 23, was hanged early Tuesday after the Supreme Court upheld the death penalty issued against him on charges of “murder,” the judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported.
Ghobadlou was arrested in September 2022 in the city of Parand, near the capital Tehran, after allegedly running his car into a group of policemen, resulting in the death of one officer, according to Mizan.
Ghobadlou was sentenced to death in November 2022 on the vague charge of “corruption on earth,” which is punishable by death under Islamic law. The sentence was upheld in December 2022.
He was slapped with another death sentence in December 2022, after being found guilty of “murder.”
Ghobadlou’s lawyer, Amir Raisian, said this sentence was overturned by the Supreme Court, adding that his execution would be illegal and would amount to “murder.”
In a post on the X platform on Monday, Raisian said the defense team was informed of the decision to hang Ghobadlou a few hours before the execution.
Ghobadlou’s lawyer and family have repeatedly attempted to appeal the death sentences, saying the young man had bipolar disorder.
In videos circulating online, a group of people is seen gathering in front of Rajai Shahr prison in the city of Karaj, where Ghobadlou was being held, as soon as news of his execution was announced. In one video, Ghobadlou’s mother is heard yelling at prison guards, “You killed my Mohammad, he took to the streets for all you youngsters.”
دریافتی از زندان قزلحصار، مادر و خاله #محمد_قبادلو به ماموران زندان میگویند؛ «محمد من را شما کشتید. اون به خاطر همه شما جوونها به خیابون رفت.» pic.twitter.com/sZZ7PC5YeU
— Amirhossein Miresmaeili (@AmirMiresmaeili) January 23, 2024
Ghobadlou’s execution sparked a wave of condemnation among rights groups and activists.
“The execution of Mr. Ghobadlou, given his mental state, is considered a flagrant violation of international human rights standards, strongly condemned by Hengaw, viewing it as a blatant breach of both human rights and international laws including even Iran’s own regulations,” the Norway-based human rights group Hengaw said in a statement on Tuesday.
Earlier in June, Amnesty International had issued an urgent appeal to stop Ghobadlou’s execution.
“Mohammad Ghobadlou 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,” the rights group said.
According to Mizan, the mental disorder claim was rejected by courts based on an assessment by a forensic psychiatrist.
Iran's judiciary says it executed 22-year-old protestor Mohammad Ghobadlou this morning. No words. Eighth protester executed. He was a barber and had mental illness and Supreme Court had ordered a halt to the execution. His parents were pleading today to save him.#محمد_قبادلو pic.twitter.com/3K0awKi00r
— Farnaz Fassihi (@farnazfassihi) January 23, 2024
Ghobadlou is the eighth known person executed in Iran in connection with the mass protests that swept the country in 2022, following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini.
In 2023, the Oslo-based Iran Human Rights recorded at least 604 executions. So far this year, the group has documented 50 executions.
The Iranian regime has been accused of using the death penalty as a tool to repress any form of dissent.
More than 19,200 people have been arrested in relation to the 2022 protests as part of a violent crackdown launched by the authorities. At least 516 people were killed by security forces during the first four months of the protests, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists in Iran.
Iran is the world’s second executioner after China, according to Amnesty.
