Iran hangs two over burning copy of Quran, insulting Prophet

Tehran: Two men were executed by the Iranian authorities on Monday on charges of blasphemy against Islam.

According to Mizan News Agency, Yousef Mehrad and Sadrollah Fazeli Zare were hanged for insulting the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (PBUH), burning a copy of the Quran and promoting atheism.

What do we know about the charges so far?

As per Iranian media reports, Yousef Mehrad and Sadrollah Fazeli Zare were arrested in May 2020 for running several anti-religious online platforms.

In March 2021 one of the defendants had confessed to posting the content. Such confessions are believed to have been coerced, according to rights groups based outside of Iran.

Monday’s executions were the latest in a series of executions in the past two weeks for a range of crimes.

Amnesty International said that Iran executes more people annually than any other country in the world except China.

So far this year, at least 203 prisoners have been executed in the country, according to the non-profit Iranian Human Rights Organization.

Two rights groups said in a report last month that Iranian authorities executed 582 individuals last year, a 75 per cent increase from 2021.