Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini were hanged early Saturday morning, Iranian state-affiliated Fars News reported.
The pair allegedly took part in anti-regime protests last year, and were convicted of killing Seyed Ruhollah Ajamian, a member of the country’s Basij paramilitary force, in Karaj on November 3, according to the Iran’s judiciary news agency Mizan.
Mohammad Hossein Aghasi, a lawyer advocating for Karami, posted to Twitter Saturday, that Karami was not given final rights to speak to his family before his execution.
The lawyer added that Karami had begun a dry food hunger strike Wednesday as a form of protest against officials for not allowing Aghasi to represent him.
As many as 41 more protesters have received death sentences in recent months, according to statements from Iranian officials.
Karami, 21, was an Iranian-Kurdish karate champion who sported a tattoo of the Olympic rings on the inside of his arm. His cousin said that Karami was a brave, intelligent boy and got into karate at age 11. He went on to join the Iranian youth national team and later won at the national championships.
Last month Karami’s parents posted a video to social media begging the Iranian state to spare his life. His father said, “My son is among the karate champions of Iran and has several national titles and was the fourth ranked member on Iran’s national team … I beg of you to please lift the execution order.”
Karami was convicted on December 5, less than a week after his trial began in Tehran over the alleged killing of the paramilitary.
Amnesty described the trial as bearing “no resemblance to a meaningful judicial proceeding.”
His family allege he was tortured in prison and refused access to a lawyer.
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