An Iranian man who was arrested during the 2022 anti-government protests for allegedly killing a senior IRGC intelligence official was executed on the morning of August 6th in the western province of Kermanshah.
In memory of #RezaRasaei, a 34 year old #Iranian man who was just executed by the Islamic Republic in #Iran for participating in the 2022 national uprising against the Khomeinist regime.#رضا_رسايی pic.twitter.com/Ycsz8mVNhk
— The Apadana Telegraph (@ApadanaTel) August 6, 2024
34-year-old Reza Rasaei, who comes from the marginalized Kurdish and Yarsan communities, was sentenced to death by a court on charges related to the killing of Colonel Nader Bayrami in November 2022, with Iran’s Supreme Court upholding the sentence in December 2023.
Authorities in Kermanshah singled out and arrested Rasaei for allegedly killing Bayrami, who was killed after a group of people confronted him while he was giving warnings to a woman who refused to wear the hijab and was eventually beaten to death. The killing occurred during a gathering to honor Seyed Khalil Alinejad, an influential Kurdish and Yarsan in Iran believed to have been killed by Iranian security agents in Sweden in 2001.
Despite receiving a call from security agents to force him to commit that he would not join the protests, Rasaei attended the gathering anyway, holding up a photo of his cousin Khairullah Haqjoyan, who was in custody at the time. One of Rasaei’s friends also reported that the authorities began beating people with batons after the crowd started chanting slogans against the regime, such as “Death to the child-killing government" and "Woman, Life, Freedom."
Shame and hatred on the caliphate of the mullahs and their accomplices ...
— J Jan (@JCloud007) August 6, 2024
Interviews with eyewitnesses to the killing of Bayrami and sources close to Rasaei’s family cast doubt on the regime’s accusation that he killed the IRGC agent. Sources claimed that Rasaei was not involved in the altercation that led to Bayrami’s death, but he was ultimately forced to confess under extreme torture that he killed him.
Human rights organizations and legal groups also cast doubt on the allegations that Rasaei killed Bayrami. Amnesty International noted that Rasaei was subjected to torture during interrogations, including severe beatings and electrocutions, to compel him to confess to the crime.
The international human rights organization said in February that Rasaei’s death sentence was handed down after an “unfair trial” based on “forced confessions.”
Reza Rasaei, a 34-year-old protester unjustly arrested and executed by the regime, is laid to rest in a remote cemetery, far from the city he called home. Even in death, the regime's cruelty knows no bounds, denying his family and community the chance to mourn him properly.
But… pic.twitter.com/uAgzrfzMN5— Decado (@ItsDecado) August 6, 2024
The Dadban legal group, which monitors the legal proceedings of political prisoners and imprisoned protesters in Iran, also declared that the death sentence against Rasaei was unlawful, emphasizing the influence of powerful institutions in his case and suggesting that the verdict was predetermined despite numerous flaws and contradictions.
The group noted the court selectively accepted testimonies from certain defendants while disregarding evidence that could have proven Rasaei’s innocence. Even though the prosecution highlighted flaws in the case in their report, the judges insisted on a guilty verdict. The group of legal experts also argued that the court ignored the opinions of forensic experts regarding the cause of Bayrami’s death and the weapon used in the crime.
