Statement by 150 people: Afkari's death sentence and the Aban massacre decree had a central focus

In a statement they issued, a group of political, civil, and human rights activists said that the execution order for Navid Afkari came from the same center that had issued the order to shoot and kill hundreds of protesters in November 2019, and had no purpose other than to intimidate the people.

On Thursday, September 17, 150 political figures, civil society and human rights activists issued a statement, writing: "The order to expedite the execution of Navid Afkari came from the same center that issued the order to shoot and kill hundreds of protestors in November 2019."

The signatories of the statement believe that this ruling was made with the same goal as the killing of protesters in November 2019, namely to intimidate people and suppress protesters.

Referring to the contradictory cases and errors in the case file that the Iranian judiciary created for Navid Afkari, they wrote: "The issuance of two death sentences for Navid (murder and war crimes) was already done in order to carry out his execution in any way possible. However, the rush to execute it occurred after the fundamental legal errors and obvious contradictions in the weak scenario of the criminal suppressors were being exposed. Including the obvious conflict between the location of the knife wound in the video narration of the victim's father, which shows the right side of his son's neck and shoulder, and the staged torture scene in which Navid is targeted on the left side of his shoulder and arm!; the notarized testimony of a person who had testified to Navid's actions, stating that he confessed under pressure and torture, and the contrary testimony of a witness who observed Navid's torture at the police station, and... "

The statement also pointed out the Islamic Republic's disregard for the extensive efforts that were launched in Iran and around the world to prevent the execution of Navid Afkari, and wrote that despite international appeals, "the power elite and the criminal head of the judiciary ignored this public demand, hastily executed athlete and plasterer Navid without observing the minimum legal and humane formalities." Navid, who had said, "They are looking for a neck for their rope." Navid, who had said, "In all the years I have been wrestling, I have never faced a cowardly opponent. But for two years now, my family and I have been struggling with the most cowardly opponent in history: injustice."

These political and civil activists have said that “this acceleration in crime is essentially rooted in the deep fear” of the rulers of the Islamic Republic “of the protests of the deprived and impoverished in society…. But this hatred will find its footing tomorrow and find its way to the streets, and it will create another January and April.”

At the end of the statement, the Islamic Republic is warned for the hundredth thousandth time: "Do not execute."

Mansour Farhang, Amir Mombini, Hassan Yousef Eshkouri, Maryam Satvot, Mahdieh Golroo, Niloufar Beizaei, Mansoureh Shojaei, Kazem Alamdari, Hassan Nayebhashem, Mohammad Oliaeifard, Ali Afshari, Behrouz Bayat, Behzad Karimi, Behrouz Khaliq, and Reza Allamehzadeh are among the signatories of the statement.

Open letter to the President of the International Olympic Committee and the President of the Wrestling Organization

In another action, 77 Iranian university professors, journalists, writers, poets, doctors, lawyers, artists, athletes, and human rights activists living outside Iran wrote an open letter to the President of the International Olympic Committee and the President of the World Wrestling Organization in protest of the execution of Navid Afkari.

In their letter to Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, and Nenand Lalovic, President of the World Wrestling Organization, they wrote:

"Ignoring all national and international appeals, the Islamic regime in Iran hanged Navid with astonishing haste without allowing him to meet his family for the last time; unconfirmed reports indicate that he was tortured to death. Fearing public protests and a large funeral, security forces hastily and unannouncedly buried Navid in a village."

The letter’s authors point out that Iranian sports federations have remained silent “out of fear of the regime’s harsh response.” For this reason, the letter’s signatories strongly believe that “the pressure from international sports bodies, and the Islamic regime’s threat of consequences for these criminal acts, is an important step in protecting the rights and lives of others who are at risk of execution in the prisons of the Islamic Republic.”

They have emphasized: "This is the only language understandable to the Islamic regime."

This letter was signed by Yervand Abrahamian, Nazanin Afshin Jam, Saeed Peyvandi, Reza Alijani, Hossein Faraji, Parviz Ghlichkhani, Ramin Jahanbegloo, Nasim Khaksar, Shadi Sadr, Ali Akbar Mehdi, Masoud Noghrekar, Shahrzad Mojab, and Abbas Milani, among others.

The execution of Navid Afkari shocked and angered many. The European Union, Germany, and France condemned the crime.

Athletes did not remain silent either. Among the sports figures and institutions that protested the execution of Navid Afkari were Dagmar Freitag, head of the Sports Commission in the German Parliament, and the German Athletes' Association, who, after the execution of Navid Afkari, called on the International Olympic Committee to take "practical action" against Iran, saying that the execution of Navid Afkari should not remain without consequences for the Islamic Republic.

Omid Nouripour, a representative of the Green Party, and Bijan Jirsaei, foreign policy spokesman for the German Free Democrats, criticized German and European Union politicians for constantly demanding improved relations with the Iranian regime at all costs.

Börbel Kofler, the human rights officer at the German Foreign Ministry, protested the long prison sentences of the Afkari brothers and the death sentence of Navid Afkari.

Joe Biden, the Democratic Party candidate in the US presidential election, called the execution of Navid Afkari cruel and shocking.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo welcomed the cancellation of a trip by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in two tweets. Zarif was scheduled to travel to three European countries this week to participate in talks on the nuclear deal. The Islamic Republic has denied that Zarif's cancellation of his trip to Germany was due to concerns over the consequences of the execution of Navid Afkari, saying that the reason for the cancellation of the trip was logistical and health problems related to the coronavirus.

Farah Pahlavi, the last empress of Iran, in a statement remembered Navid Afkari as a hero who died for freedom and justice, and offered condolences to his bereaved mother and family.

Reza Pahlavi, the last prince of Iran, also wrote in a message addressed to the leaders of the Islamic government that "by killing and burying an innocent young man at night, and depriving his suffering mother of a last visit, they will not silence the voice of protest of a nation in distress."

Source: DW