{"id":231286,"date":"2020-12-16T17:16:30","date_gmt":"2020-12-16T17:16:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=231286"},"modified":"2024-01-23T21:53:09","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T20:53:09","slug":"irans-latest-internationally-condemned-execution-should-lead-to-the-end-of-impunity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/blog\/op-ed\/irans-latest-internationally-condemned-execution-should-lead-to-the-end-of-impunity\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran\u2019s Latest Internationally Condemned Execution Should Lead To the End of Impunity"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

By Alejo Vidal Quadras<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Saturday, the Iranian judiciary carried out the death sentence for Ruhollah Zam<\/a>, a journalist who had been living in France before he was lured to Iraq with a prospective story, then kidnapped by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps<\/a> and taken back to Iran. There, he was subjected to lengthy interrogation and torture. A forced confession and unfair trial soon led to his conviction on the vague charge of \u201cspreading corruption on earth\u201d last June.<\/p>\n

The death sentence had been the subject of widespread condemnation by human rights groups and Western lawmakers in the six months leading up to its implementation. Unfortunately, though, this translated into very little concrete action on the part of European governments, which have often been prone to appeasement in their dealings with Tehran\u2019s malign activity.<\/p>\n

Many advocates for these prisoners have urged much more assertive strategies that aim to demonstrate that Tehran will face serious consequences for the continuation of its malign activities. But this advice has largely fallen on deaf ears and now those advocates can be expected to highlight the danger of additional political prisoners falling victim to fates similar to Zam\u2019s. That danger has loomed large for more than a year following mass arrests in the wake of a second nationwide uprising<\/a> in November 2019.<\/p>\n

That movement revived and expanded upon the uprising less than two years earlier, and it spread to nearly 200 Iranian cities and towns within days of the inciting incident: Tehran\u2019s announcement of a sudden increase in the price of gasoline. When outrage over economic mismanagement rekindled chants of \u201cdeath to the dictator,\u201d the regime responded with panic over the prospect of regime change, shutting down the internet, opening fire on crowds throughout the country, and conducting law enforcement sweeps of the activist community.<\/p>\n

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Iran Protests: Nationwide Uprising in Iran- November 2019<\/div><\/div>
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