Iranian writers, filmmakers, and other cultural figures have joined the local and international outcry against a surge of executions in the country, using the hashtag "Do Not Execute" to criticize the continued use of the death penalty in a crackdown on political dissent from mass protests that shook the country in January.
Following two executions on July 28 that marked the first public hangings to take place in a year, writer and novelist Hossein Sanapour condemned the actions, criticizing what he described as opaque judicial proceedings and arguing that the authorities were attempting to suppress public anger following the January protests.
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Iranian Demonstrators Protest State Executions In Isfahan
Iran's judicial authorities executed Abolfazl Sepahi Badjani and Amirhossein Safari Hosseinabadi on July 28 in the city of Isfahan. The two men had been sentenced to death in connection with unrest during the January protests.
Since the start of the war with the United States and Israel on February 28, Iran has witnessed a surge in executions of people human rights groups consider political prisoners -- from demonstrators to alleged members of banned groups and those convicted of spying.
In a statement shared online on July 29, Sanapour voiced similar concerns, saying that the executions were being carried out despite widespread anxiety and hardship caused by the country's current conditions.
"With all the despair that our words will be heard or have an effect, and only so that they know how strongly we oppose this type of proceedings, trials, and executions, we say: Do not execute," Sanapour wrote.
Actor and director Homayoun Ghanizadeh also criticized the continued use of executions during a period of crisis, writing sarcastically on social media that if war, poverty, deprivation, imprisonment, and other pressures had failed to affect society, then "the news of an execution -- especially a public one" -- would supposedly bring hope and joy.
Ghanizadeh said the executions represented the culmination of a system already marked by war, economic hardship, sanctions, restrictions, and social pressure.
Hassan Nayeb Hashem, an Iranian human rights activist based in Europe, also criticized the executions and the authorities' handling of the cases.
Commenting on reports that people gathered near the execution site in Malekshahr, Isfahan, he told RFE/RL's Radio Farda that he believes the presence of protesters limited the authorities' ability to control the public narrative surrounding the executions.
"Public executions have been abolished in almost every country in the world, including many that still retain the death penalty," Hashem said. "The Islamic republic carries them out in order to create greater fear and intimidation [in society]. At the same time, it hopes to mobilize its own supporters by staging these public spectacles."
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An Iranian Colonel Was Killed In January Protests. Now 16 People Face The Death Penalty."But the protests against executions today were large," he added. "You could say the government failed to achieve its objective of attracting supporters to this display."
Other cultural figures, including Mostafa Al-Ahmad, Reza Darmishian and Ali Ahmadzadeh, also joined criticism of the July 28 executions by sharing messages associated with the Do Not Execute campaign.
Iranian media were quick to brand the artists as "traitors of the homeland" for speaking out against the authorities.
The Tasnim news agency, which is closely affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), wrote on July 29 that "we must once and for all put aside flattery, confrontation, and expediency" when dealing with celebrities.
The article accused them of harboring "sympathy for terrorists" and wrote that the judiciary and security authorities should "summon, try, and imprison several of them" and "show the people the celebrities' defenses of their rotten and empty thoughts so that their dishonor falls to the ground and they have no more honor left."
The Do Not Execute campaign first emerged online in 2020 as a grassroots anti-death-penalty movement following death sentences against protesters and has repeatedly resurfaced during periods of heightened executions in Iran.
The Iran Human Rights group (IHRNGO) also condemned the executions, with its director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam saying that the authorities were using public hangings "to instill fear throughout society and deter future protests."
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The Shadowy Iranian Judge Sending Protesters To Their DeathIHRNGO said a large number of people gathered near the execution site in Isfahan in an attempt to stop the killings and reported that authorities responded with force.
Videos and messages circulated on social media following the public hangings in Isfahan appeared to show people gathering in protest and mourning, although the scale of the demonstrations could not be independently verified.
Rights groups say dozens of people are facing charges connected to protests in the Iranian city of Isfahan in January, during which a colonel of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) was killed.
According to the latest data, 428 people have been executed in Iran so far this year, many of whom were sentenced to death in connection with the January protests.
Rights groups and international observers have raised concerns over the fairness of the proceedings, including allegations of coerced confessions and limited access to due process.