Iran says it executed wrestler Navid Afkari, convicted of murder
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RFI / Muriel Paradon
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Iran announced on Saturday September 12 that it had executed a young wrestler, Navid Afkari, sentenced to death for the murder of an official during "riots" in 2018, according to the state television website.
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Iran announced on Saturday (September 12) that it had executed a young wrestler, Navid Afkari, sentenced to death for the murder of an official during "riots" in 2018, according to the state television website.
The sentence of "qesas", that is to say the "law of retaliation", a sentence of "retribution", was carried out this morning in a prison of Shiraz, indicated on state television the attorney general of the province of Fars, Kazem Mousavi.
The death penalty was applied "
at the insistence of the family of the victim
", he added.
But according to Navid Afkari's lawyer, Me Hassan Younessi, a meeting with the victim's family was to take place on Sunday, September 13 to "
ask for forgiveness
" and thus avoid the application of the death penalty.
"
Were you in such a hurry that you refused to Navid his right to a last visit
", protested Me Hassan Younessi on Twitter.
The human rights organization Amnesty International was alarmed Friday September 11 of the "
imminent secret execution
" of Navid Afkari, affirming that he and his two brothers, sentenced to heavy prison terms in the same case, were the "
latest victims of the flawed Iranian justice system
".
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it was "
shocked
" by the execution of the Iranian wrestler.
#BREAKING - Iranian wrestling champion Navid Afkari may be at risk of imminent secret execution.
The int'l community MUST urgently intervene and demand # Iran's authorities immediately reveal his fate & whereabouts and #SaveNavid from execution.
https://t.co/TcosW63vCD
Amnesty International (@amnesty) September 11, 2020
According to the Judicial Authority, Navid Afkari had been found guilty of "intentional homicide" on an official of the public water authority in Shiraz, in the south of the country, stabbed on August 2, 2018.
Support from Donald Trump
Like several other cities in Iran, Shiraz had been the scene that day of hostile demonstrations against power and denouncing the economic and social situation of the country.
The verdict was controversial and support had flowed in Iran and abroad after the publication of information abroad claiming that Navid Afkari, 27, had been sentenced on the basis of confessions extracted under torture.
US President Donald Trump
called on Iran to spare the life of a "
great star of the struggle who only participated in an anti-government demonstration
."
With at least 251 executions in 2019, Iran is, after China, the country that uses the death penalty the most according to the latest global report on the death penalty published by Amnesty International.
This number has nevertheless halved compared to 2018, according to Amnesty.
(With
AFP)
► Read also: Iran: Donald Trump defends Navid Afkari, sentenced to death
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