Iran Execution: Prisoner Denied Final Request, Beaten Before Hanging

Iran Execution: Prisoner Denied Final Request, Beaten Before Hanging 

A disturbing video has emerged from Iran which documents a recent public execution in which a prisoner was beaten before being hanged in public.

The video which can be seen below appears to have been shot in Karaj on February 25th, 2014.

Warning the following footage is disturbing and should not be watched by children.

It is difficult to confirm exactly what is going on in the video, but it appears as though the prisoner who is set to be executed is pleading to receive a final embrace from his Mother who is in the crowd. It appears that the Mother can also be heard raising her voice in protest for her son. After his request is denied the man becomes visibly agitated and openly resists the commencement of his execution. He repeatedly kicks over a ladder which was to be employed in the execution, and at one point breaks his handcuffs and attempts to break free of his guards. The man’s escape attempt appears to be met with cheers from the crowd. The identity of the executed man is not clear, nor was his crime disclosed.

Shortly thereafter the man is beaten by a number of Iranian guards, who then hoist his body onto the ladder and place the noose around his neck. At the end of the video a man can be seen in the crowd stating “Regardless of his crime he should have been allowed to see his Mother.”

The video is shocking in its brutality, and paints a horrific picture of repression and state power in Iran.

Iran continues to lead the world in per capita executions, and has reportedly executed dozens of  prisoners in the past week, and as many as 130 in the past two months.  NGO’s and Iranian dissidents have criticized the regimes use of public executions, which they claim is meant to evoke an aura of fear and repression within the country.

The United Nations human rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani recently lamented the increased execution rate on Iran, stating; “the surge in the use of the death penalty that has dampened hopes for human rights reforms under President Hassan Rouhani.”

“It appears at least in the past seven weeks that in fact executions have been scaled up…We regret that the new government has not changed its approach to the death penalty and continues to impose capital punishment for a wide range of offences. We urge the government to immediately halt executions and to institute a moratorium.”

Last year Iran executed 624 individuals last year according to the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center.

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Comments

  1. Aidan Lynch

    February 27, 2014

    Absolute savages. How can anyone go home to face their own family, knowing that they’ve just destroyed someone else’s? I hope this poor man’s soul rests heavily on the shoulders of the executioners. Images like these should embolden those who show the cowardice to stand around doing nothing.

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