A man sentenced to death for his participation in a protest movement was executed for the first time in Iran on Thursday, prompting a wave of protests abroad and warnings from non-governmental organizations about the inevitability of more hangings, AFP reports.

Mass protests in IranPhoto: LaPresse / ddp USA / Profimedia

The Islamic Republic of Iran is the scene of protests sparked by the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd who died three days after being arrested by moral police. Police accused her of violating a strict dress code that requires women to wear a veil in public.

Mohsen Shekari, 23, was convicted and sentenced to death for blocking a street and wounding a paramilitary officer at the start of protests in a trial that rights groups condemned as a show trial.

Other protesters face imminent execution after being sentenced to hang in connection with the protests, groups have warned.

“Mohsen Shekari, the rioter who blocked Sattar Khan Boulevard and stabbed a Basij with a machete on September 25, was executed in Tehran,” the judicial body Mizan Online announced. The Basij militia is linked to the Revolutionary Guard, Iran’s ideological army.

Amnesty International said it was “appalled” by the execution and condemned it as an “unfair show trial”. “His execution exposes the inhumanity of Iran’s so-called judicial system, while dozens of others face the same fate.”

“Sinister Escalation”

Mahmoud Amiri-Moghaddam, director of the Oslo-based group for human rights in Iran (IHR), called for a strong international response or “we will face mass executions of protesters.”

“Mohsen Shekari was executed after a summary trial and without a lawyer”.

The execution also caused outrage in Western countries and the UN.

The United States condemned the “sinister escalation” and said the Iranian authorities must be held accountable.

Berlin said the Iranian regime’s “contempt for humanity knows no bounds”, London said it was “outraged”, and Rome said the “unacceptable repression by the Iranian authorities cannot leave the international community indifferent”.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said that the death penalty is “incompatible with human rights.”