Blasphemy: Iran executes two people

Yusef Mehrdad and Sadrullah Fazeli Zare were arrested in May 2020 and sentenced to death in April 2021 for running online “anti-Islam groups and channels,” news agency Mizan was quoted as saying by CNN.

Meanwhile, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said it is alarmed by the continued enforcement of blasphemy provisions around the world and condemns efforts to enact stricter blasphemy legislation.

The existence and enforcement of such laws—which punish individuals for allegedly offending, insulting, or denigrating religious doctrines, deities, symbols, and religious feelings—undermines freedom of religion or belief and related human rights, including freedom of expression.

“Blasphemy prosecutions demonstrate a blatant disregard for human rights, and are often used to target members of religious communities and others who hold different or dissenting views,” said Chair Nury Turkel. “It is outrageous that the Iranian government executed Yusef Mehrdad and Seyyed Sadrullah Fazeli Zare on charges of insulting the Prophet despite an international outcry and telling Mr. Mehrdad’s family the execution had been stayed.”

In its 2023 Annual Report, USCIRF highlighted blasphemy prosecutions in multiple countries. In 2020, USCIRF released a groundbreaking report that documented the global enforcement of blasphemy laws, and in 2022, released a series of reports on blasphemy laws in Nigeria, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries, and Turkey.