Iran hangs two more men amid anti-government protests

euronews.com:

Iran said it executed two men on Saturday, amid anti-government protests sparked by the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman. 

Mohammad Mehdi Karami, 22, and Mohammad Hosseini, 39, were hung after allegedly killing a paramilitary during nationwide protests triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini in September. 

Critics have questioned the validity of the charges against the men, while pointing out that they were denied proper legal support in rushed, closed trials. 

Iran has so far executed four people since demonstrations began in mid-September, though the NGO Iran Human Rights has warned some 100 protestors, including teenage boys and five women, are at risk of execution. 

"Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini, principle perpetrators of the crime that led to the unjust martyrdom of Ruhollah Ajamian were hanged this morning," the judiciary said in a statement put out by the official IRNA news agency.

The two men were convicted of killing a member of the Basiji on 3 November in Karaj, a city near Tehran. Linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, the Basiji is a volunteer militia that has been deployed to attack and detain protestors, who have often fought back. 

According to his lawyer, Karami was not allowed to meet his family before being hung, as is often the case in Iran. 

The other executed protestor, Hosseini, was an orphan. His lawyer previously reported that he had been severely tortured in prison, according to IranWire, a UK-based media outlet. 

In December, Amnesty International slammed the executions by the Iranian government, calling them "sham trials designed to intimidate protesters in the popular uprising that has rocked the country".

It said all of those facing death sentences had been denied the