Iranian footballer Nasr-Azadani faces imminent execution in Iran

Shahid Alikhani square is a nondescript part of the historic Iranian city of Isfahan. Its sole claim to prominence is the grand entrance to one of the city’s main metro stations.

But now it has become a place of pilgrimage for supporters of the high-profile Iranian footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani who fear the young man could be executed in the square, where an execution platform has been installed, a witness close to Nasr-Azadani in Iran told CNN.

Terrified Iranian families believe that while the Western world is preoccupied with Christmas celebrations, a wave of executions in the country is imminent following the recent protests that have swept the country following the death in September of Mahsa Amini, a young woman detained by Iran’s notorious morality police for being accused of improperly wearing her hijab.

In collaboration with the activist group 1500Tasvir, CNN has verified documents, video, witness testimony and statements from inside the country which suggest that at least 43 people, including Nasr-Azadani, could face imminent execution.

Authorities have already executed at least two people in connection with protests in Iran last month, one of whom was hanged publicly.

Witness testimonies and official documents, reviewed by CNN and 1500Tasvir, provide evidence that suggests a rushed judicial process in Iran; charges which could carry the death sentence, often handed down in a single sitting.

Source: CNN