CNN
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Iran has executed a man for wounding a militia officer in the first known execution linked to protests that have swept the country since September, state media reported Thursday.
Mizan Online, a news agency affiliated with Iran’s judiciary, and the semi-official Tasmin News Agency both named the protester as Mohsen Shekari. He was reportedly convicted of “war against God” for stabbing a member of the Basij paramilitary group during a protest in Tehran on September 23.
According to Mizan Online, Shekari was sentenced to death on October 23 and executed by hanging on Thursday morning.
It was the first execution linked to a protest publicly reported by state media.
Amid nationwide protests in the wake of the death of 22-year-old Masa Amini, who was arrested by state moral police for not wearing the hijab properly, some Iranians have was sentenced to death.
Her death hit the nerves of the Islamic Republic, and prominent celebrities, including top Iranian actor Taraneh Alidusti, came out in support of the movement. The protests then coalesced over various grievances against the dictatorship.
As of November, Iranian authorities were seeking the death penalty for at least 21 people in connection with the protests, according to Amnesty International.
At least 458 people have died in unrest since September, according to Norway-based Human Rights in Iran on Wednesday.
CNN cannot independently confirm the number of people facing execution in Iran, or the latest number of arrests or deaths related to the protests.
Since the demonstrations began, authorities have carried out a deadly crackdown, with reports of forced detention and physical abuse being used to target the country’s Kurdish minority group.
A recent CNN investigation found secret testimony of sexual violence against protesters, including boys, in Iran’s detention centers since the riots began.
Iran’s supreme leader, meanwhile, has praised the role of the Basij, part of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, in the crackdown, describing the protests as “rioters” and “thugs” backed by foreign forces.
In late November, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said Iran was in a “full-blown human rights crisis” and called for an independent investigation into human rights violations in the country.
