Navid Afkari Hung to Death for Protesting in Iran

Navid Afkari, 27, was a champion Iranian wrestler, who took to the streets in the 2018 Iranian Protests. His aim = protest the vast economic disparity the ruling class lauded over the people of Iran.

He was captured by the Iranian government, falsely accused of killing a security guard, then tortured for 50 days until he falsely confessed. Despite indisputable evidence exonerating him, he was hung by Iran this morning.

Wanting to make an example out of him, and others who challenge the state, Iran habitually commits the most heinous crimes you can think of against its people who speak out.

Amnesty International reported, “Iranian security forces committed a “catalogue of shocking human rights violations” against protestors in last November’s demonstrations.

Dozens of men and women told the human rights group they were beaten, flogged, given electric shocks, or sexually abused to extract bogus confessions. More than 7,000 people – including children as young as 10 – were arrested in the crackdown. Hundreds more died.

In an Amnesty report obtained via BBC News, The detainees alleged that torture was routinely used to elicit “confessions” and incriminating statements, not just about their involvement in the protests, but also about their alleged associations with opposition groups, human rights defenders, media outside Iran, as well as with foreign governments.

Amnesty said the torture methods included “waterboarding, beating, flogging, electric shocks, pepper-spraying genitals, sexual violence, mock executions, pulling out nails and solitary confinement, sometimes for weeks or even months”.

One man who was subjected to electric shocks recounted: “It felt like my entire body was being pierced with millions of needles. If I refused to answer their questions, they would raise the voltage levels and give me stronger electric shocks… The torture has had lasting effects on my mental and physical health.”

Navid Afkari, and his brothers, who were also falsely accused and arrested alongside Navid’s case is no different, with his brothers now spending the rest of ther life in jail.

Afkari’s brothers, Vahid and Habib Akari, were sentenced to 54 and 27 years in prison.

Iran News Wire reported, a source who asked not to be named for security reasons told the Human Rights News Agency that since Navid and his two brothers attended the 2018 protests, “the judiciary deemed the participation of all three brothers as the organization of a group.” Which allowed Iran to up their charges against the family.

“Navid and Vahid Afkari were brutally tortured by the notorious Shiraz Intelligence Police to make forced confessions,” the source added.

Eyewitness accounts of the torture and beatings have been included in their dossier but were ignored in court.  

Navid Afkari detailed his torture in a letter from prison published by human rights groups.

“They pulled a plastic bag over my head and kept it there until I nearly suffocated. They brutally beat my hands, stomach, and feet with batons while using vulgar language and insults. They also tied me and poured alcohol into my nose,” he wrote.   

What You Can Do

Iranian journalist and activist, Masih Alinejad, went to Twitter today, on behalf of the Iranian people, calling for worldwide action to hold Iran accountable for their crimes against the Afkari family, for their insidious and rampant abuse practices against the Iranian people.

To fight back, she and an overwhelming tide of Iranian public are calling for the International Committee to boycott Iran from all International sports. The most effective path to change is changing the oppressors pockets, and Masih and many Iranians know this well.

You can spread word of the abuse and killings of the Iranian people fighting for equality, and help ban Iran from all world sporting competitions by using the hashtag #BanIRSports4Navid on your social platforms, along with sharing the stories of Navid Afkari and countless other Iranian protesters fighting for a better tomorrow.