Overview
- Iran’s judiciary-linked media reported that Saleh Mohammadi, 19, Mehdi Ghasemi and Saeed Davoudi were hanged in Qom on March 19 after convictions for moharebeh tied to the alleged killing of two police officers during January 8 unrest.
- The executions are the first officially announced deaths linked to prosecutions from the late‑December and January protests that prompted a sweeping crackdown.
- Amnesty International and Iran Human Rights say the men were denied independent counsel, pushed through fast‑tracked proceedings and convicted on statements extracted under torture that the defendants later retracted.
- Accounts differ on whether the hangings were conducted publicly, with some rights monitors reporting they occurred in the presence of a gathered crowd in Qom.
- The U.S. State Department had urged Iran to halt the execution, and athletes and advocates are pressing the IOC and United World Wrestling to act as rights groups warn more protest detainees could face death; Mohammadi had won a 2024 bronze at Russia’s Saitiev Cup.