Demonstrators gather outside the Iranian Embassy in London to protest the execution of wrestler Navid Afkari in Iran on September 12, 2020. -

JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP

Iran announced on Saturday that it had executed a young wrestler, Navid Afkari, for the murder of an official during protests against the government in 2018, a decision denounced on social networks and abroad.

The sentence of "qesas", that is to say the "law of retaliation", a sentence of "retribution", was executed this Saturday morning in a prison in Shiraz, in the south of the country, told the state television the Attorney General of Fars Province, 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 should have taken place on Sunday to "ask for forgiveness" and thus avoid the application of the death penalty.

Me Younessi had rebelled on Twitter: "Were you in such a hurry that you refused to Navid his right to a last visit", as provided by the penal code according to him.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it was "shocked" by the execution, deeming "deeply upsetting" that requests from athletes and organizations around the world to prevent the wrestler's execution were not heard.

"Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Navid Afkari", reacted the IOC in a statement.

IOC statement on the execution of wrestler Navid Afkari in Iran https://t.co/MeM6Os1CoK

- Olympic Games (@jeuxolympiques) September 12, 2020

A world association representing 85,000 athletes, World Players United, called on Iran to spare the athlete.

According to Amnesty International, the last contact between Navid Afkari and his family was on September 6 by telephone.

The human rights organization denounced in a press release the "secret" execution of Navid Afkari, calling it a "parody of justice" after a "manifestly unfair" trial.

According to the Judicial Authority, Navid Afkari had been found guilty of "intentional homicide" on an official of the public water authority in Shiraz, stabbed on August 2, 2018. Like several other cities in Iran, Shiraz had been the that day was the scene of demonstrations hostile to power and denouncing the country's economic and social situation.

International reactions

The verdict, announced in early September, had caused controversy and support had flowed in Iran and abroad after the publication of information 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 in the struggle (...) who only participated in an anti-government demonstration".

Donald Trump maintains "maximum pressure" against Iran and has introduced new economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic after withdrawing in 2018 from the international Iran nuclear agreement.

The Persian hashtag #Navid_Afkari has been widely shared on Twitter to support the young man and oppose his execution.

In London, a group of demonstrators gathered on Saturday in front of the Iranian embassy to protest the execution, holding up signs showing the crossed out faces of the Iranian Supreme Leader and President.

On Twitter, Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde said she was "appalled by the news of the execution of Iranian wrestler Navid Afkari".

Appalled by reports of the execution of Iranian wrestler Navid Afkari.

Sweden and the rest of the EU consistently underline the right to due process and oppose the application of capital punishment under all circumstances in all cases without exception.

- Ann Linde (@AnnLinde) September 12, 2020

The execution of Navid Afkari was "a great sin" and the Judicial Authority should have tried to convince the family of the slain man to forgive the wrestler, Iranian human rights activist Emaddein Baghi tweeted.

Lawyer Babak Paknia also criticized the Judicial Authority's "haste" to execute the sentence.

“Even if the murder did take place, is it not the role of the Judicial Authority to do everything so that (the convict) is pardoned?

“He noted on Twitter.

With at least 251 executions in 2019, Iran is the country that uses the death penalty the most after China, according to the latest global report on the death penalty published by Amnesty International.

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