Iranian footballer Amir Nasr Azdani was sentenced to 26 years in prison in Iran on Monday after being charged by a revolutionary court with the murder of three members of the security forces during protests in the country.
Three other Iranian citizens were also charged with participating in the same crime in the city of Isfahan in mid-November last year, two of whom were sentenced to death and the third to two years in prison.
Azadani’s trial drew strong criticism around the world, especially from football associations, with some foreign media reporting that he had been sentenced to death in December.
According to Iranian news agencies, in the news released today, the footballer has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for complicity in the murder of three militia members (basijis), to which must be added five years in prison for participating in a protest and two years for due process according to court in Iran to illegal groups that “disturb public order”.
Azadani played for several football clubs in Iran between 2016 and 2019, namely for Tractor Sazi, a team coached by Spanish coach Paco Jémez.
In the same trial, Iranians Saleh Mirhashemi, Majid Kazemi Sheikh Shabani and Saeed Yaqoubi were sentenced to death after being charged with murdering militiamen in the city of Isfahan.
The three death sentences bring the total number of people sentenced to death in Iran over widespread protests against Tehran’s regime to 11.
Iran has been battling public outcry since September 16, the day Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian woman of Kurdish descent, died after being arrested by police for not wearing the Islamic veil imposed on women by authorities in the country.
The protests demand the end of the Islamic Republic, founded in 1979.
The government has violently repressed mobilizations of mainly young people and women.
So far, at least 2,000 people have been charged with various crimes by the Iranian judiciary for participating in the protests, and four of those sentenced to death by the revolutionary courts have been executed.
Last weekend, civilians Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Mohammad Hosseini were executed after being convicted of the murder of a basiji.
The executions, by hanging, have led to strong international criticism.
The European Union expressed “dismay” at the executions and asked Tehran to “immediately annul” the death sentences handed down in the context of the protests.
Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International have called the trials “farces”, “unfair” or “revenge trials”.
More than 500 people have been killed in the clashes and 20,000 have been arrested, according to the Oslo-based non-governmental organization Iran Human Rights.
Source: DN
