Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, July 13, 2020—Iranian regime officials confirmed that on July 8 a man in Mashhad was executed for drinking alcohol on multiple occasions. Apart from the cruelty of this act, it is a manifestation of the regime’s reaction to its many crises such as the coronavirus outbreak, economic deadlock, conflicts between various currents of the regime, and its fear of another nationwide uprising.
On one hand, the regime has increased its psychological warfare and propaganda against the Iranian opposition People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and is pressurizing the families of MEK members, while on the other hand, it has begun a new wave of executions of prisoners. In this regard, executing a man for drinking alcohol is unique and unprecedented, even for the brutal regime of the mullahs.
The victim was imprisoned a year ago and had no other charges but drinking alcohol. The remarks of the victim's lawyer indicate that the regime was in a hurry to carry out this execution.
Amnesty International issued a statement condemning the vicious crime of the mullahs’ regime, saying: “Iranian authorities have once again laid bare the sheer cruelty and inhumanity of their judicial system by executing a man simply for drinking alcohol. The victim was the latest person to be executed in Valkalibad prison, the site of numerous secret mass executions and a grotesque theatre of Iran’s contempt for human life.”
This execution was carried out while in recent days, the regime’s representative at the United Nations Human Rights Council was shedding crocodile tears for the killing of IRGC Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, the regime’s terror mastermind.
Carrying out this execution in the city of Mashhad is not a coincidence. It is worth reminding that the nationwide uprisings in December 2017 first started in Mashhad. In recent months, many regime officials have warned about the explosive situation of the Iranian society and the possibility of new uprisings.
In other news, Hossein Reyhani, a young man who was arrested during the November 2019 protests in Iran, has been charged with “enmity against God”, a bogus crime the regime uses to hand out execution sentences.
At the same time, the regime judiciary is making a push for the execution of three youths who were arrested in the November 2019 nationwide uprisings.
Previously, the Iranian regime’s judiciary arrested two elite students Ali Younesi and Amir Hossein Moradi for having links with the MEK. On June 13, Ali Younesi was reported to have contracted coronavirus in prison.
On June 15, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) called for an international fact-finding mission to visit Iran’s prisons and meet with the inmates, especially political prisoners, and called for immediate action by the United Nations Secretary-General, the Human Rights Council and Commissioner, and relevant special rapporteurs, along with international human rights organizations to save the lives of political prisoners in Iran.
With this new wave of repressive measures, the regime aims to intimidate the population and preparing the ground for more repression. At the same time, it fears the public outrage that will result from these punishments, since these executions can trigger new protests.
The Iranian regime is facing a deadlock. On the one hand, it needs executions and repression to confront the explosive situation of the society. But on the other hand, these arrests and executions can themselves become the source of more protests.
The question is: Will the regime manage to stop people’s revolt by increasing repression, arrests, and executions of political prisoners? If the past is prologue, it won’t happen.
