Iran hangs man in ‘medieval’ public execution, human rights group says

Iran publicly hanged a man Thursday in front of a large crowd, the latest execution carried out by the Islamic Republic, a human rights group said. 

The unidentified man was convicted of “corruption on earth” and was hung in the city of Maragheh, the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) said. 

He was found guilty of charges related to his relations with women but specific crimes were not immediately clear, The Times of Israel reported. 

The killing shows “the true face of a government that tries to prolong its life with cruelty, humiliation and intimidation of society,” IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said in a statement. “The world community should not adopt such medieval practices in 2023.”

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An image posted by the group shows a blindfolded man standing next to two executioners wearing balaclavas during the day. Another appeared to show hundreds of people gathered to watch the execution. They were standing behind security tape. 

Second to China, Iran executes more people than any other nation, The Times of Israel reported, citing a report by Amnesty International. Despite the death toll, public executions are rare in Iran, which most being carried out in prisons. 

The country had no public executions in 2021, IHR said. The country is seeing an uptick in executions in an effort to keep the public in line following a wave of anti-government protests, the news report said. Authorities have brutally cracked down on dissent through puppet trials and suppression of free speech and due process, critics have alleged. 

In the first five months of this year, 278 people have been executed, the IHR said.