In his seminal work, Discipline and Punish, the French philosopher Michel Foucault remarked on the political significance of public executions as they once stood in the West.

“The public execution is to be understood not only as a judicial but also as a political ritual. It belongs, even in minor cases, to the ceremonies by which power is manifested.” — Foucault

Though his focus is 18th century Europe, Foucault’s remarks have startling applicability to the current situation in Iran.

Iran leads the world in per capita executions, and is one of the few countries which continues to publicly hang condemned individuals, creating a spectacle of terror in the street. These executions carry political significance beyond the administration of supposed justice. They are in essence an abstraction of the political and judicial climate in Iran, in which a population is controlled through sheer violence and terror.

To illustrate my point, I will reference a shocking amateur video which emerged from Iran this week. The video appears to depict a prisoner who is set to be publicly hanged in Karaj on February 25th. At this time I do not have information as to the identity of the prisoner or the crime he was charged with.

WARNING: VIDEO IS GRAPHIC AND DISTURBING

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy5n7W9KzBg

In the video the man is seen begging to receive a final embrace from his Mother who is in the crowd. It appears that his Mother was present and can also be heard weeping. In typical fashion, the regimes henchmen deny the man’s request. At which point the becomes defiant and resists his executioners. He wrestles away from his guards and kicks over a ladder which was to be used in his execution.

What is even more notable than the man’s resistance are the cheers that rise from the crowd as he kicks one of his guards and breaks out of his handcuffs while attempting to go to his mother. The guards yell at the crowd to move back and to be quiet. The man is finally beaten into submission and his battered body is hoisted up the ladder and the noose is put around his neck. Despite the savage beating that he received, the man’s spirit remains defiant as he resists, even with the noose around his neck.

The scene is not only powerful but serves as a poignant example of Iran’s judicial system and repressive state power, using violence and terror in order to subdue a defiant population.