CNN
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Shahid Alikhani Square is a nondescript part of the historic Iranian city of Isfahan. The only standout claim is the grand entrance to his one of the city’s main metro stations.
But now it has become a place of pilgrimage for supporters of prominent Iranian footballer Amir Nasr Azadani, Iran told CNN.
Horrified Iranian families have swept the country after the September death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman detained by Iran’s notorious morality, while the Western world was engrossed in Christmas celebrations recently. I believe a wave of domestic executions is imminent, following the protests of She was charged by the police for wearing the hijab improperly.
CNN, working with activist group 1500Tasvir, has reviewed documents, videos, eyewitness testimony and statements from within the country that suggest at least 43 people, including Nasr Azadani, may face imminent execution. did.
Authorities last month executed at least two people in connection with protests in Iran, one of whom was publicly hanged.
Witness testimony and official documents vetted by CNN and 1500Tasvir provide evidence suggesting hasty judicial proceedings in Iran. Charges that could carry a death sentence were often handed down all at once.
Nasr-Azadani is accused of being responsible for the killing of three security officers, including two Basij militia volunteers, during protests in Isfahan on November 16, Iranian state media IRNA said. reported last week.
According to state media, the city’s chief judge, Asadullah Jafari, said Nasr-Azadani was charged with rioting against Baghi or authorities. Under Iran’s penal code, sentences carry the death penalty.
Since then, witnesses to his arrest have wanted Nasr Azadani to be released, but Shahid Alihani said daily to see if authorities would show up with the footballer and execute him on the scaffold. “From the day he was arrested, authorities told us he would be released by the end of the week,” a witness told CNN.
After that, the information was exhausted. Weeks later, witnesses near Nasr-Azadani say authorities told them the 26-year-old man could be hanged in Shahid Alikhani Square.
“The idea that they could execute him at any moment is really very difficult for us…and the news we keep hearing is worrying.”
Witnesses told CNN that Nasr-Azadani’s family was initially unaware of the reason for his arrest. Witnesses told CNN that people close to him were warned to “keep quiet” about his case if they wanted to see him released sooner.
The court said last week it had “obtained video and sufficient documents to prove him.” [Nasr-Azadani] State media IRNA reported that the footballer confessed to his crimes.
A previous CNN investigation found that prisoners were tortured and sexually assaulted. I’m here.
Nevertheless, Iranian officials have defended the trial. An Iranian parliamentarian recently said that a person involved in the current unrest believes he must be executed within 10 days, starting five days after his arrest. CNN has not received a formal response from Iranian officials to a request for comment.
Another man, Majid Kazemi, was also accused of being involved in the killing of three security forces in Isfahan, according to documents obtained by CNN and 1500Tasvir. Kazemi told others that he was coerced into confessing to his involvement in criminal activities during interrogation.
A source close to Kazemi told CNN, “He didn’t confess to anything that he was indicted, so they beat him badly.
A prisoner released from the facility where Majid is being held told sources that he had a broken arm, leg and nose.
Majid’s trial is expected to take place during the holiday season, sources told CNN.
“This coincides with the time when the international community is observing these holy days, and the Islamic Republic regime will take advantage of its exclusion from global scrutiny.
“I am really afraid they will execute Majid.”
In a recording from inside a Tehran prison, inmate Sahand Noor Mahmazadeh tells how he was forced to confess.
“The judge who was there told me to say I didn’t protest (disputed) and gave me three pages that I signed, but wouldn’t even let me read those pages.
“It was the second time they took me in for questioning, and my charges had completely changed. rice field. ”
“They told me to go to the public prosecutor’s office and he walked in and said: ‘It’s clear from his face. Do this!
1500Tasvir and CNN obtained and reviewed hastily filmed documents from inside the Isfahan District Court that at least 10 Isfahans were indicted for Moharabeh (war against God) and charged with spreading corruption across the globe, among other crimes. It was revealed that he was indicted. carry out the death penalty.
Introduced after the 1979 revolution, this charge is regularly levied against those accused of committing acts against the government.
Several other eyewitness accounts and official documents sent by family members jointly authenticated by CNN and 1500Tasvir show how the Iranian regime is rushing the judicial process.
Family members and activists say only court-appointed attorneys can represent defendants who have also been denied the right to appeal.
And if an indictment is handed down, Iran’s penal code stipulates that death sentences can be handed down once, but they are not executed immediately and most sentences are appealed.
Soheil Jahangiri is one such Iranian sentenced. His family told CNN he hasn’t heard from him in over a month. They say authorities did not allow Jahangiri an independent lawyer.
“The judiciary has hinted at two charges, Bagi and Moharabe.
“With the start of the Christmas holidays, political pressure on the government waning, and the new executions looming in fear, I believe Sohail’s life and the lives of many political prisoners are at risk.
“We do not want to see children executed while the media is silent,” they added.
CNN has confirmed that dozens of people, including teenagers, face similar charges and are at risk of execution in connection with the protests.
At Khuzestan District Court, west of Isfahan, CNN confirmed through court documents that 23 people, along with 1500Tasvir, have been charged with crimes punishable by death.
In Karaj, near Tehran, CNN and 1500Tasvir confirmed that five more Iranians were facing execution. Among them is 21-year-old Iranian-Kurdish karate champion Mohammad Medhi Karami, whose parents have also made public the petition.
“Please remove the execution order from my son’s file,” the father said in a video posted on social media.
In a message shared with CNN, his family said Karami was not only sentenced to death but was tortured in prison.
In a separate message shared to CNN, they said that despite allegations of his abuse, Karami was fine but was “physically damaged” after being tortured.
For those awaiting execution, the wait in prison is excruciating. Just this week, 27-year-old Iranian-Kurdish rapper Saman Yasin attempted suicide while in custody.
In his final music video, Yasin raps about inequality and oppression in Iran, saying, “They shut my throat hard. They banned beauty. They turned me upside down like an animal.” I am not satisfied with silence.”
After spending weeks in a harsh prison in northern Iran, Yassin tried to end his life just two days ago, a prison source told CNN.
CNN confirmed that at least 43 detainees face execution. Statements by both Iranian officials and Iranian media, confirmed by CNN and 1500Tasvir, mention the names of those accused, suggesting that the actual number could possibly be as high as 100. is showing. Check the names mentioned in the media.
For many Iranians, their desperate pleas continue as the year draws to a bitter end.
In a video published and shared with CNN, the mother of brothers Farzad and Farhad Tahazadeh, 23 and 24, sent the following message to the world:
“Hear my sons cry for help. please.”
In Iran, a woman is in great danger when she speaks out against authorities on behalf of her child. But many parents feel compelled to take risks.
