CDMX-Mexico.-Iran, a historic ally of the Cuban government, executed a second detained protester this morning. They hanged him in public. The information was confirmed by Mizan News, an official Iranian propaganda site, dedicated to legal issues.
Majid Reza Rahnavard, 23, died by hanging from a crane in the middle of the street in Mashad, some 900 kilometers east of Tehran. This is the first public execution of a protester. Although previously (on December 8) Mohsen Shekari, of the same age, had been sentenced to death for harming, without danger to life, a soldier.
In the case of Rahnavard, he was arrested on November 19. He was later accused of having stabbed to death two members of the paramilitary militia. Majid, who was one of the leaders of the protests, was also prosecuted on the charge of “enmity with God”.
Iranian human rights lawyer and exile Shadi Sad explained tothe Spanish newspaper El País that the trial against Majid was marked by violations of due process.
She claims that the man was denied access to a lawyer. “In his place, he was appointed one ex officio. At the trial, the lawyer sided with the prosecution and confirmed his statements instead of defending his client, ”the jurist added to the Spanish outlet.
“It is clear that the procedural guarantees were not respected in the trial. Under current Islamic laws in Iran, any defendant has the right to appeal his death sentence within 20 days of receiving the sentence, which should then be reviewed by the Supreme Court. Nevertheless, [Rahnavard] he was executed 18 days after being sentenced. He has been sentenced to death before his family could appeal, ”says Sad.
Iran Ally of Cuba
Until now, the official Cuban media have not reviewed the news. A behavior that is not surprising since the agenda of the island’s ruling party is consistent with that of its ally, and it openly supports it.
When the protests began last September, after the death of the 22-year-old Mahsa Aminithe Cuban propaganda media took more than a week to mention them. To later describe them as “riots” and classify the protesters as “terrorists” and “thugs and rioters at the service of foreign powers.”
At the end of last month the Cuban government voted in the Human Rights Council against the establishmentleciera an international and independent fact-finding mission to investigate about the violations of human rights (DD. HH.) in Iran, especially against vulnerable groups.
However, heat resolution (A/HRC/S-35/L.1) on the deterioration of the situation of the DDs. H H. in Iran (especially with regard to women, girls and boys) was approved by 25 votes in favor, six against (Cuba, Armenia, China, Eritrea, Pakistan and Venezuela) and 16 abstentions.
This was not the first time that Cuba voted in favor of Iran and positioned itself on the opposite side of the DDs. H H. In 2017, Havana abstained from voting against the death penalty applied to homosexual people in Iran, during a session of the UN Human Rights Council.
Iran is one of the few countries that still punish relationships between individuals of the same sex/gender with death of the “passive” member of the relationship, and with 100 lashes to the “active”.
Why does Cuba support Iran?
Since 1979 The habana he sympathized with the new Iranian Revolution and supported it in all international arenas. Fidel Castro He was one of the main promoters of Iran joining the Non-Aligned Movement. The Cuban dictator influenced this group to support the use of nuclear energy.
Henceforth, the links have been continuous in lines such as biotechnology, trade and even espionage. Both share a common enemy: the United States. Havana has to offer in this sense its proximity to Florida
For these favors, the ayatollah regime has granted millionaire loans and forgives Caribbean debts. Until the In 2015, the academic Jaime Suchlicki calculated that Cuba had received the equivalent of more than 1 billion euros in loans from Tehran since 2005.
