Some additional details to take into account concerning the Navid Afkari affair:
* I'm not sure where the information that the murder victim was a Basij member stems from, but according to Iranian media reports, he was an employee of the Shiraz water company.
Pictures of the mid-aged man can be seen in the reports below: he does not look like a member of Basij security forces (he can be seen clean shaven and wearing a suit much like an average office employee).
* This affair seems unrelated to recent politically / economically driven riots.
Not only did the murder occur at night, outside of any demonstration or public gathering, the accused also claimed in his confession that he was motivated by a personal dispute with the victim.
The Iranian media reports below don't expound on the specifics of the dispute. I believe they should, as this would contribute to neutralizing any baseless accusation from Iran's enemies.
* Even if the victim was a security guard as foreign media claim he was (his physical profile does not seem to have corresponded to such a job), he was still employed by an urban management company, not tasked with confronting protesters or rioters.
* Hundreds were temporarily arrested during the 2018 riots in which Afkari is said to have participated. According to what criteria would the Islamic Republic pick him over others for punisment? Foreign and opposition media provide no explanation.
If the Islamic Republic sentenced an innocent man as foreign media suggest, with the express purpose of deterring the population from protesting or rioting, why would he then be accused of a crime completely unrelated to the riots?
Why would authorities not rather choose someone who effectively resorted to violence against security forces, of which there were quite a few, and for which there exists film material that authorities could use to bring their point accross?
* This is while a token number of individuals were actually sentenced to capital punishment for crimes committed during the 2018 riots.
And Iranian law enforcement and judiciary back then had no problem declaring them guilty of just that - why would they, in Navid Afkari's case, prefer to invent an accusation unrelated to the events? Here again, foreign and opposition media provide no explanation and don't even evoke questions like these.
* Foreign and opposition media once again are staying silent on the fact that the execution of any death sentence against the accused hinges upon the decision of the victim's close relatives, whom by Iranian law are granted the power to pardon, since this is a case of ghesās.
It is therefore puzzling why anti-IR media are concentrating criticism on the Islamic Republic, when in fact the murder victim's family plays an equal role in any decision to carry out or not capital punishment.
www.aparat.com
www.aparat.com