Iranian footballer is among dozens facing execution while the West is distracted by Christmas

[orangecrush]

Shahid Alikhani square is a nondescript part of the historic Iranian city of Isfahan. Its sole claim to prominence is the grand entrance to one of the city’s main metro stations.

But now it has become a place of pilgrimage for supporters of the high-profile Iranian footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani who fear the young man could be executed in the square, where an execution platform has been installed, a witness close to Nasr-Azadani in Iran told CNN.

Terrified Iranian families believe that while the Western world is preoccupied with Christmas celebrations, a wave of executions in the country is imminent following the recent protests that have swept the country following the death in September of Mahsa Amini, a young woman detained by Iran’s notorious morality police for being accused of improperly wearing her hijab.

In collaboration with the activist group 1500Tasvir, CNN has verified documents, video, witness testimony and statements from inside the country which suggest that at least 43 people, including Nasr-Azadani, could face imminent execution.

Authorities have already executed at least two people in connection with protests in Iran last month, one of whom was hanged publicly.

Witness testimonies and official documents, reviewed by CNN and 1500Tasvir, provide evidence that suggests a rushed judicial process in Iran; charges which could carry the death sentence, often handed down in a single sitting.


https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/23/middleeast/iran-footballer-amir-nasr-azadani-execution-intl/index.html


The world is watching.

[Deuxcents]

1. Madness. Ruling w/ an iron fist when people just want to be free

Stone Age mentality steeped in oppressive religious laws. We should know about this..

[orangecrush]

2. This is their chance

To show the world they are not barbarians to be feared and hated.

[Deuxcents]

3. It won't be easy but they gotta rise up and some literally die for it

The majority of the population are young…you’re right, tho, it’s their chance to break free

[Hortensis]

16. Forty years ago a majority of Iranians who voted chose a "religious-lite"

form of government that would provide a kind and gentle guidance for public life. It was a reaction lead by their conservative half, of course, to too much change too fast, too much westernization, too much liberalism, that was corrupting their own culture. But many others who felt their own culture needed to put some brakes on too much westernization bought in also.

The Ayatollah's benign promises were a bait-and-switch to hard-core religious oppression, of course. That's SOP for revolutionaries who can't sell their real product, as many fully realized who tried to hold back the tide of what was in Iran conservative, religious reactionism. (We have bait-and-hope-to-switch "revolutionaries" who can't sell their real product, left or right, in this country, too, so deceive people about it.)

It's important to be honest enough to accept that many millions of conservative Iranians who despise and fear western culture have been overall satisfied with what they got. In spite of big problems, Iran's leadership has been able to make a lot of advances that have benefitted the nation.

It's THOSE fellow citizens the people demonstrating in the streets for liberal equality have to overcome. Iran's version of what our Republicans have turned into.

Btw, experts say it's not a coincidence that this wave of protests over women's rights coincides with a new wave of economic problems... Nothing's ever as simple as evening newscasts fighting for ratings suggest.

[ZonkerHarris]

4. Someday it will be the Supreme Council hanging in the public square

It's inevitable.
Might take a while

[Buckeyeblue]

5. This is what happens when tyranny and religion combine

There is a contingent of white cristofacist in this country that would be very happy with this type of "rule of law".

We can't ever forget that.

[forthemiddle]

6. Distracted by Christmas?

What would you have us do?
Should “The West” invade Iran on Christmas Day to save them?
Should we cancel Christmas until they are freed?
I will do my part and add him to my Christmas prayers.

Sorry but all the world’s problems are not our faults. We have tried to change tyrannical governments in the past, and that didn’t turn out to well.
The most we can do is offer asylum, if they can get here, but otherwise it is up to their citizens to change what they can.

[nini]

7. Thank you

I think we can take a break and have a few days ‘being selfish’ to enjoy what we can. god knows it’s ok to take care of ourselves once in awhile and still care about others suffering in the world.

[XanaDUer2]

8. Ty

That wording was weird. It's like saying Ramadan shouldnt be celebrated because of prison abuse in Rikers.

[LeftInTX]

14. LOL

[XanaDUer2]

9. Kick nt

[Calculating]

10. Short of invading Iran there's not a ton we can do

And invading Iran wouldn't be a cakewalk. We'd probably have 10,000+ dead Americans and have to occupy it like Iraq getting bled over time.

[XanaDUer2]

11. Kick nt

[maxsolomon]

12. It's Alikhani's supporters who think the West is distracted by Xmas.

The full article title would have been helpful: "Exclusive: Iranian footballer is among dozens facing execution while the West is distracted by Christmas, supporters fear."

Iranians have a naive view of what the West can do in a nation that's been controlled by a fanatical oil-rich Theocracy for 43 years.

[LeftInTX]

15. It isn't just Christmas, there are too many atrocities to keep up

[Kaleva]

13. Biden is too busy opening presents to care about this?

[XanaDUer2]

17. Kick nt