The Slaughter of Navid Afkari Should Galvanize World Authorities to Shun the Iranian Regime’s Thugs

By
Staff Writer
-
Global Outcry After Navid Afkari’s Execution
Unfortunately, when the MEK, the main Iranian opposition, voiced its objections to Navid’s pending execution, world leaders sat on the fence as they feared that their “political and economic interests” in relation to the Iranian regime would be under threat. This meant the regime did not fear what it was doing.

Global Outcry After Navid Afkari’s Execution

Well known and loved wrestler, Navid Afkari, was executed in Iran after suffering excruciating pain inflicted by the Iranian regime’s own thugs through torture and fake trials. He had been accused of murder, but in reality, his execution and show trials were all about the regime trying to clamp down on public uprising, which will soon inevitably sweep them away into the dustbin of history.

Afkari had been arrested in a peaceful protest back in 2018 and had been in prison since then. His final execution took place despite a wide-ranging international campaign to have his death sentence commuted and Afkari released. International sporting bodies and Amnesty International were shocked at the final, cold-blooded decision. The regime even made sure that Navid couldn’t be visited by his own family before he was killed.

Before his execution, Navid had been able to pass on messages to the outside world describing the terrible conditions he faced while in detention and especially the horrors of the torture that was used on him so that he would confess to crimes he had not committed. This is a typical regime strategy used against whoever they feel is a threat to their own existence. Navid wasn’t the only one in his family to be arrested and tortured. His two brothers have been experiencing similar state-sponsored violence.

Iranians have been protesting because they believe that the Iranian regime is corrupt, incompetent, undemocratic, socially backward, and overly repressive. They have had enough. The regime’s incompetence and incredible stupidity over the response to the Covid-19, Over 110,700 people have died of the coronavirus across Iran, according to reports by the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI / MEK Iran). Pandemic as it has raged across Iran is probably the final straw. They are ready to throw off the shackles and rid themselves of Khamenei and his cronies forever.

Of course, the regime knows this and suspects that if it doesn’t use ever more repressive techniques their days spending their snouts in the trough are soon over. That’s why they are prepared to risk international censure by executing anyone who seems to threaten their existence, even though they may be popular figures, not just in Iran, but around the world, like Navid Afkari.

Afkari’s execution is likely to do precisely the opposite of what was intended within Iran. It will only spark even more hatred towards the regime and a willingness to risk it all and get rid of them in a huge revolt. But what should international authorities do when they hear of the Iranian regime’s atrocities and total disrespect for human rights?

While the European government still seems to be trying to avoid the issue of Iran and its despotic regime, the world sports associations have been given a fresh new look at what has been going on in Iran because it has affected one of their own. They have an opportunity to put pressure on their own governments to sit up and take action against the Iranian regime. Already the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has released a report on Iran’s shocking human rights record. It says it is “alarmed by the unprecedented violent crackdown against protesters across the Islamic Republic of Iran in November 2019.”

The Iranian regime has been using the same tactics against the Iranian opposition with impunity ever since they established themselves after the Iranian Revolution in 1979. In 1988, over 30,000 members and supporters of the (PMOI / MEK Iran), were killed. Many thousands have been killed since then. Every time there is a mass uprising, the regime’s thugs start spraying bullets.

Reuters confirmed in a special report on December 23, 2019, about the deadly crackdown on November nationwide protests in Iran the death toll of 1500 that was announced by the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) on December 15, 2019.

Iran’s own officials, those who condone these atrocities should now be shunned by international authorities, especially those in the west who profess to care more for human rights, the rule of law, and democratic institutions. At the same time, the existence of a humane, democratic alternative to the regime in the form of the National Council of Resistance of Iran NCRI and its constituent affiliates should be recognized and supported if the world is to rid itself of the Iranian regime monster before any more blood is spilled in Iran.

The abridged article was written by Ali Safavi for Issues and Insights.

MEK Iran (follow them on Twitter and Facebook)

and People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran – MEK IRAN – YouTube

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR