New executions in Iran. Two men were hanged for burning a copy of the Koran and insulting the Prophet Muhammad, the judicial authority's information agency Mizan Online announced Monday (May 8th).

Sadrollah Fazeli Zare and Youssef Mehrdad, convicted of "insulting the Prophet Muhammad and other blasphemies including burning the Koran," were hanged Monday morning, according to the agency's website.

In March 2021, one of the defendants admitted to posting on a Telegram account, created to "discredit Islamists," the insults, Mizan said.

According to the court, Youssef Mehrdad was arrested in Ardabil, in the northwest. He had created "a highly followed group" on the Internet to "spread atheism" in Iran. A video "alluding to the burning of the Koran" was discovered on the defendant's phone and was republished on his account, the same source said.

By examining Sadrollah Fazeli Zare's electronic devices, a "popular account" promoting atheism" and "insulting religious values" was identified.

Some 582 people executed in Iran in 2022

According to Mizan, the two men had said during the trial that "some religious" had convicted them of "apostasy", without elaborating.

Iran is the second country with the highest number of executions after China, according to several NGOs, including Amnesty International.

In 2022, the number of people executed was up 75% compared to 2021, two NGOs, Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) and Paris-based Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM), said in April.

At least 582 people were executed in Iran in 2022, a record since 2015, up from 333 in 2021, the two NGOs said in a joint report.

Tehran has criticised the European Union's condemnation of Saturday's execution of Iranian-Swedish dissident Habib Chaab, convicted of "terrorism".

For Sweden, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, "the death penalty is an inhumane and irreversible punishment".

With AFP

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