Iran executes two more prisoners, Israel’s far-right government orders the Palestinian flag’s removal, and Saudi Arabia announces Hajj numbers will be up to pre-pandemic levels. Here’s your round-up, written by Abubakr Al-Shamahi, Al Jazeera Digital’s Middle East and North Africa editor.
Mohammad Mehdi Karami’s father did what he could, begging the Iranian authorities to spare his son’s life. It didn’t help. Instead, they hanged the 22-year-old on Saturday, along with another man, Mohammad Hosseini. Both had been convicted of killing a member of Iran’s paramilitary forces during nationwide anti-government protests. This, despite claims their confessions had been extracted through torture. Amnesty International called their trial a “sham”.
On Monday, reports that two more men were expected to be executed soon sent crowds of demonstrators to the prison where they were being held. Among them was the mother of one of the men, who says her son has a history of mental illness and should be spared.
Officials in Iran have so far chosen to ignore calls from Western countries to stop the executions, which one UN human rights advocate called “the weaponisation of criminal procedures”, something that amounts to a “state-sanctioned killing”.
source: aljazeera
