Iran executed a former national karate champion and another man on Saturday for allegedly killing a security official during nationwide protests, despite pleas by relatives and criticism that their trial relied on forced confession.

The two men executed on Saturday had been convicted over the death of a member of the Basij paramilitary force militia, who prosecutors said was stripped naked and killed by a group of mourners who had been paying tribute to a slain protester, Hadis Najafi. Three others have been sentenced to death in the same case, while 11 received prison sentences.

“Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini, principal perpetrators of the crime that led to the unjust martyrdom of Ruhollah Ajamian were hanged this morning,” the judiciary said in a statement carried by the official IRNA news agency.

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Four people have now been executed for their role in protests that followed the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman in police custody in September and which have escalated into calls for an end to Iran’s clerical regime.

Read more: The Telegraph