While Iran has been shaken since the end of December by a vast popular mobilization against the regime of the mullahs, a 26-year-old protester, Erfan Soltaniis about to be executed by the Islamic regime, triggering an international outcry and calls for intervention from foreign leaders.
Erfan Soltani, from Fardis in Alborz province near Tehran, was arrested on January 8 during an anti-government protest. According to several human rights organizations, he has not had access to a lawyer or a fair trial, and his family recently learned that his death sentence was to be carried out on January 14. Reports indicate that he was allowed to see his family only minutes before the scheduled execution and that he was denied access to any judicial information.
A terrible repression
In Iran, the repression of protesters is extremely violent: thousands have been arrested and hundreds, perhaps even thousands, killed during the demonstrations that have ignited the country in response to the economic crisis and the regime's authoritarianism. Iranian authorities have also imposed an internet blackout, making it difficult to access independent information from within the country.
NGOs, including Iran Human Rights, have warned that Soltani's case could be the first in a series of executions of protesters, resulting from the use of 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, the imam Hassan Chalghoumi launched an urgent appeal, disseminated on social media, directly addressing world leaders and the collective conscience:
“After thousands of deaths in Iran and the arrest of thousands of protesters, today the diabolical regime of the mullahs is preparing to execute one of them: Erfan Soltani (#عرفان_سلطانی), arrested and then sentenced to death.
Erfan is not an isolated case.
He is the first in a series of announced executions.
I appeal to the conscience of humanity, to the heads of state and free leaders of the world: Emmanuel Macron, Donald TrumpUrsula von der Leyen or Keir Starmer… can we all remain spectators of this horror?
Saving Erfan means saving the honor of humanity.
Saving Erfan means saying no to the crime that defiles all of humanity.
An international mobilization
Organizations such as Amnesty International have called on Iran to immediately suspend all executions, including that of Erfan Soltani. Western governments have expressed concern about the potential use of the death penalty to suppress the protest movement.
Within the country, despite the extreme risks, the protests continue, and the situation remains extremely volatile, with calls from various international actors to protect the rights of protesters and to end human rights violations in the Islamic Republic.
