According to a report published by Mizan News Agency, affiliated with the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran, early this morning, Sunday, May 24, Mojtaba Kian was executed on charges of “sending information related to the country’s defense industries” to Persian-language media based outside of Iran. The report claims that in one of the messages to his contact, he had stated: “Give these stats to BB.” Mizan also announced that one of the pieces of evidence used to issue the death sentence for Mojtaba Kian was his “explicit confessions” prior to and during the trial.
According to the published information, no independent details have been released regarding the judicial process, how the accused accessed a lawyer, the quality of the trial, and the conditions under which the confessions were obtained. Based on the judiciary’s announcement, less than 50 days elapsed between Mojtaba Kian’s arrest and the execution of his sentence.
The Hana Human Rights Organization emphasizes that relying on confessions in security cases especially in the absence of judicial transparency and the restriction of defendants’ access to their right to defense contradicts the principles of a fair trial and the international obligations of the Islamic Republic of Iran regarding the right to life. Hana also expresses deep concern over the increasing trend of executions in security and political cases, as well as the intensified use of the death penalty in the current security environment.