Erfan Kiani, who was reportedly arrested during the nationwide anti-government protests in January in the central city of Isfahan, was executed on April 25, according to Mizan, the news agency affiliated with Iran’s judiciary. Mizan reported that the protester, whose age was not reported, was executed after the Supreme Court upheld the verdict. Authorities accused Kiani of leading a group that attempted to destroy public property at the city’s Piroozi intersection on the evening of January 8. The charges against him included “destroying public and private property, setting fires, carrying and using Molotov cocktails, carrying weapons, blocking the path of vehicles, attacking officers, and creating fear and panic among citizens.” No details about the trial proceedings, evidence presented, or access to a lawyer have been made public. There had been no prior independent reporting on Erfan Kiani before the execution announcement. RFE/RL is unable to independently verify the full details of the case. Mass protests in Iran in January were brutally suppressed by security forces. The US-based human rights monitoring group HRANA verified thousands of deaths during the crackdown, with figures for confirmed protester deaths reaching over 6,000. Many more arrests occurred across the country. Since the protests, Iran has carried out multiple executions of individuals arrested in connection with the unrest, with a noticeable surge in recent weeks. Rights groups have warned of an alarming increase in executions overall — with Iran already recording one of the world’s highest rates — and have expressed concern that the authorities are using the death penalty to instill fear and suppress dissent following the protests.
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