Iran executes political activist Javid Dehghan Khald despite human rights groups warnings

ARAB NEWS-  Despite human rights groups warnings, 31-year-old Javid Dehghan Khald was executed in Zahedan prison in Iran

Amnesty International also called on the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to stop the execution of Khald

DUBAI: Authorities in Iran executed an ethnic Baluchi man on Saturday morning who had been in prison on charges of cooperating with anti-regime groups, Persian daily Iran International reported.

Despite human rights groups warnings, 31-year-old Javid Dehghan Khald was executed in Zahedan prison in Iran after serving five and a half years in prison.

Just a day before the execution was carried out, the United Nations human rights office called on Tehran to halt the hanging of Khald after condemning an alleged spree of 28 executions in Iran, including several prisoners from minority groups.

Amnesty International also called on the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to stop the execution of Khald.

Khald was sentenced to death after being convicted “following a grossly unfair trial” of belonging to an armed group and involvement in an ambush that killed two Revolutionary Guards, Amnesty International said.

Khald, according to the human rights group, was tortured through beatings and stripping of his thumb.

“The court relied on torture-tainted ‘confessions’ and ignored the serious due process abuses committed by Revolutionary Guards agents and prosecution authorities during the investigation process,” Amnesty said.

The Iranian judiciary’s official website reported that Khald was a leader of the Sunni militant group Jaish Al-Adl, or the Army of Justice, and was hanged for shooting dead two Guards five years ago in the southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province.

During the past weeks, Iranian authorities have executed at least 19 Baluchi citizens in the cities of Mashhad and Zahedan - four of which were on political charges.

Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province borders on Afghanistan, the world’s biggest producer of opium, and Pakistan. The area has long been plagued by unrest from drug smuggling gangs and separatist militants.