Following the news of confirmation of the death sentences of five protesters by the Supreme Court, the Isfahan Judiciary, headed by Mohammad Reza Habibi, hastily issued a statement, the text of which was copied verbatim and published by all state media. In this announcement, the public relations office of this system vaguely and anonymously referred to the media reports that, according to him, “dissidents” have started to “create rumors in social media”. In his organization’s statement, Habibi, with a callous tone, said that the news of these media outlets that “the death sentence of eight December 2017 and November 2019 protesters has been finalized is a complete lie.”
No media outlet, neither opposition nor mercenary, has published such a report in recent days, which Isfahan Prosecutor’s Office mentioned in this announcement. The last time something similar to the content of this announcement was published in the media, was said by the Attorney General of Isfahan himself during the Friday prayers on June 26. Mohammad Reza Habibi appears to have denied the his own words, which he said in a speech before Friday prayer sermons and was published by all government media.
On the other hand, this denial was published when the institutions and human rights activists reported the news of the death sentence confirmation by Supreme Court for 5 protesters in Khomeinishahr, Isfahan, named Mehdi Salehi Ghaleh Shahrokhi, Mohammad Bastami, Majid Nazari Kondari, Hadi Kiani and Abbas Mohammadi. How the public relations office of the Judiciary of Isfahan Province released that statement – Unknown, without mentioning details or referring to the identity of the convicts – as well as the time of its publication – simultaneously with the formation of online protests against the sentences – unveiled the dirty game of this institution with people: The purpose of the widely spread of this anxious denial was only to cast doubt on the public opinion of citizens and active users on social media.
The execution machine has repeatedly used the same trick in recent days to try to silence the protests and prevent publishing the news of the protesters’ execution. In connection with the #اعدام_نکنید campaign and the confirmation of the death sentences of three November 2019 protesters, Amir Hossein Moradi, Saeed Tamjidi and Mohammad Rajabi, regime’s execution machine used its propaganda machine and media such as Fars News Agency and Young Journalists Club to spread fake news and lies. But these tricks have become monotonous, repetitive, and inefficient. No one is fooled by these methods anymore.
The use of these tricks by the regime’s execution system is to achieve the ideal state. In this case, where there is something of the 1980s death squad nostalgia, the rosy dream of Ebrahim Raisi and Sadegh Khalkhali, the bloody ideals of Khomeini and Khavaran are hidden, no voice arises from anyone. The machine executes in complete silence. No one but the leader is able to understand the rulings correctly, which are all uttered in foreign words. An ideal state like Kafkaesque machine in the “Colony of Punishment”. Where it says in its indictments: “Due to the imprisonment of the above-mentioned defendants, there was no disturbance or destruction during the 2019 riots in Khomeinishahr (the protesters’ residence).”
Translation of this article by Sahar.
Cover: Hermann Naumann, In der Strafkolonie, Franz Kafka, 1956