In the early morning of January 23, 2024, the death sentence of the 23-year-old Mohammad Ghobadlou, was carried out. He was the ninth protester of the nationwide protest of 2022, who was executed after an unfair trial.
Mohammad Ghobadlou, a resident of Parand in Tehran, was born on January 1, 2001. He was one of the thousands of detainees of recent protests in Iran. The Iranian Judiciary sentenced him to death without allowing him access to an attorney. Mohammad Ghobadlou suffered from bipolar disorder; he was charged with murdering a police officer and injuring five other officers by running them over.
Yesterday, Mohammad Ghobadlou’s defense lawyer wrote on his Twitter account regarding the execution order: “The death sentence of Mohammad Ghobadlou had been previously overturned by Branch 1 of the Supreme Court, and the case was referred to the Joint Chamber (Branch 5 of the Criminal Court in Tehran) for further medical examinations to issue an appropriate verdict. However, the case did not reach this branch for months.” Furthermore, he wrote, “As a result, there is no legal authorization for the execution of this sentence, and undoubtedly, it would be considered murder.”
The Iran Human Rights Monitor (Iran HRM) calls upon the international community, particularly the United Nations and all human rights advocates, to condemn the execution of protesters in Iran and take immediate action to halt the implementation of death sentences in the country.
