While Iran has been shaken since the end of December by a vast popular mobilization against the mullahs’ regime, a 26-year-old demonstrator, Erfan Soltani, is about to be executed by the Islamic regime, triggering an international outcry and calls for intervention from foreign leaders.
Erfan Soltani, from Fardis in the province of Alborz near Tehran, was arrested on 8 January during an anti-government demonstration. According to several human rights organizations, he has not had access to a lawyer or a fair trial, and his family was recently told that his death sentence was due to be carried out as early as 14 January. Reports indicate that he was allowed to see his family only minutes before the planned execution, and that he was denied access to any judicial information.
A terrible repression
In Iran, the repression is extremely violent against demonstrators: thousands of people have been arrested and hundreds, if not several thousand, killed during the demonstrations that have set the country ablaze in the face of the economic crisis and the authoritarianism of the regime. The Iranian authorities have also implemented an internet blackout, making it difficult to access independent information from inside the country.
NGOs, including Iran Human Rights, have warned that Soltani’s case could be the first in a series of executions of protesters, as a result of recourse to the Revolutionary Courts to swiftly punish any dissent.
Imam Chalghoumi’s appeal: “To save Erfan is to save the honor of humanity.”
In this dramatic climate, Imam Hassan Chalghoumi launched an urgent appeal, broadcast on social networks, directly addressing world leaders and the collective conscience:
« Après des milliers de morts en Iran et l’arrestation de milliers de manifestants, aujourd’hui, le régime diabolique des mollahs s’apprête à exécuter l’un d’entre eux : Erfan Soltani (#عرفان_سلطانی), arrêté puis condamné à mort.
Erfan is not an isolated case.
It is the first in a series of executions announced.
J’en appelle à la conscience de l’humanité, aux chefs d’État et dirigeants libres du monde : Emmanuel Macron, Donald Trump, Ursula von der Leyen ou Keir Starmer … Can we all remain spectators of this horror?
To save Erfan is to save the honor of humanity.
Saving Erfan means saying no to the crime that defiles all of humanity.”
International mobilization
Organizations such as Amnesty International have called on Iran to immediately halt all executions, including that of Erfan Soltani. Western governments have expressed concern about the potential for the use of the death penalty to stifle the protest movement.
Inside the country, despite the extreme risks, protests continue, and the situation remains extremely volatile, with calls from various international actors to protect the rights of protesters and end human rights violations in the Islamic Republic.
