<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">Iran says it has publicly hanged a 23-year-old in what is the second execution linked to the recent anti-government protests.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Majidreza Rahnavard, 23, was hanged early on Monday in the city of Mashhad, the judiciary said.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">A court convicted him of "enmity against God" after finding he had stabbed to death two members of the paramilitary Basij Resistance Force.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Rahnavard was hanged just 23 days after his arrest.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Human rights groups have warned that protesters are being sentenced to death after sham trials with no due process.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">His mother was not told of the execution until after his death.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">His family were then given the name of a cemetery and a plot number. When they turned up, security agents were burying his body.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The judiciary's Mizan news agency said Rahnavard was hanged "in the presence of a group of Mashhadi citizens" and posted several pre-dawn photographs reportedly showing the execution.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">In the images a man could be seen hanging from the cable in front of onlookers - it is not clear how many people attended the execution, or who they were.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Rahnavard was denied a lawyer of his choice for his trial. The lawyer he was given did not put up a defence.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Mizan had previously reported that he was accused of stabbing to death two members of the Basij on a street in Mashhad on 17 November. The Basij is a volunteer force often deployed by Iranian authorities to suppress dissent.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of Norway-based Iran Human Rights, said on Twitter that Rahnavard's sentencing was based on "coerced confessions, after a grossly unfair process and a show trial".</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"This crime must be met with serious consequences for the Islamic Republic," he said, adding that there was a "serious risk of mass execution of protesters".</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The women-led protests against Iran's clerical establishment were sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was detained by morality police on 13 September for allegedly wearing her hijab, or headscarf, "improperly".</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">They have spread to 161 cities in all 31 provinces and are seen as one of the most serious challenges to the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Iran's leaders have portrayed the protests as "riots" instigated by the country's foreign enemies. However, the overwhelming majority of protesters have been unarmed and peaceful. BBC</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>