Be Our Voice: Local Community Continues Fight for Freedom in Iran

When 22-year-old Mahsa Amini was killed in police custody in Iran on September 16, her death lit a fire that had been building in the country for decades, sparking protests not only in Iran but across the world. Then last week, the country carried out two executions — Mohsen Shekari on December 8, followed by Majidreza Rhanavard on December 12 — both arrested for participating in protests and both hanged in public after being found guilty of “moharebeh,” or “waging war against God.”

Amini was arrested by The Guidance Patrol, the religious morality police of Iran’s government, for allegedly not wearing the hijab in accordance with government standards; Shekari and Rhanavard are two of 11 prisoners reported to be sentenced to death by Iran’s Revolution Court, and the first to be officially executed in connection to the protests.

Activist group Iranian Human Rights, which is monitoring the protests, says that as of December 7, at least 458 people have been killed in the recent protests in Iran, with at least another 18,200 detained.