LETTER: ANC’s actions are cause for alarm

Last Thursday, Mohsen Shekari was executed after being convicted of “attacking” a member of the Iranian security forces. On Monday, a second protester, Majidreza Rahnavard, was executed after a sham trial, having been denied access to a lawyer and severely tortured. Iranian activists estimate many more are facing a similar fate.

To date, the UN estimates over 450 people have been killed and 1,400 arrested in Iran, including journalists. Not only the Iranian people but every free and democratic country should be protesting the brutal and draconian rule of the Ayatollahs trying to suppress human rights.  

Two female LGBTQ activists were recently sentenced to death for “corruption on earth”, and an estimated 4,000-6,000 gays and lesbians have been executed since the Islamic revolution in 1979.

Reports of close co-operation between Iran and Russia come as no surprise, and there is overwhelming evidence that Iranian drones are being used in Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians. 

Last week, a Russian cargo ship, the “Lady R”, under sanctions from the US docked in the Simon’s Town Naval Dockyard, where eyewitnesses have confirmed that cargo was either off-loaded or loaded under the cover of darkness and armed guards.

Simon’s Town is a national key point — hosting a cargo vessel where no customs facilities are available and not a word from the ANC defence minister despite requests from opposition parties for an explanation, must be cause for alarm.

Together with SA’s abstention on every vote at the UN condemning Russian aggression, this confirms that the ANC's moral compass is broken.

Allan Wolman
Tel Aviv, Israel

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