Iran Executes Two Men Over Blasphemy Charges1 min read
It claimed that one of the accused confessed in March 2021 to publishing the content. Such confessions are believed to be forced under duress, as per rights groups based outside Iran.
Iran is among the world’s most prolific users of the death penalty, thought to be second only to China last year.
Two rights groups said in a report last month that Iranian authorities executed 582 individuals last year, a 75% increase from 2021.
The Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) and Paris-based Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM) said in April they had also counted 151 executions so far this year.
Iran witnessed mass protests starting in September 2022 which were sparked by the death of 22-year-old ethnic Kurd Jina Mahsa Amini, who died while in police custody. The demonstrations were met with a crackdown by authorities and some death sentences linked to the protests have already been meted out.