The man in this image was executed for a judge's murder in 2007, not for social media posts on the Iranian President - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 23, 2024
Following the recent death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash, a photo has surfaced showing a man with a noose around his neck, appearing to greet a toddler. This image is being circulated with the claim that the man was publicly hanged in front of his 5-year-old daughter for making social media posts against the late President (here & here). In this article, we fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: An image of a man being hanged in front of his daughter for writing against Iran’s president on social media.
Fact: The individual in this photograph is Majid Kavousifar from Iran. He was publicly executed in central Tehran in 2007 for the murder of a judge. Numerous accounts have mentioned that the girl in the viral photo was present during the execution. However, there is no credible evidence confirming that she is his daughter. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Indeed, the man in this photo was executed in Iran; however, this incident occurred many years ago in 2007. Additionally, the man was executed for murder, not for social media posts against the president of Iran. A reverse search of the viral image led us to several blogs that had previously published the same photo (here and here). According to these blogs, the man’s name is Majid Kavousifar, and he was publicly hanged for killing a judge.
A Google search using the details led us to several stock photos of the man being hanged (here, here, and here). According to the photo description, the man is identified as Majid Kavousifar. He, along with his nephew Hossein Kavousifar, were publicly hanged in central Tehran in 2007 for killing a judge. News reports about this incident can be found here, and here.
None of these reports mentioned that he was hanged in front of his five-year-old daughter. However, a few reports indicated that the girl in the photo being shared was present at the time of the hanging. Nonetheless, no article confirms that this girl is the daughter of Majid Kavousifar.
Previously, the same photo was shared on social media, claiming it depicted the hanging of Hamza Bendelladj, who hacked banks and donated money to Africa and Palestine. FACTLYs fact-check article debunking the claim can be read here.
To sum up, the individual in this photo was executed for the murder of a judge in 2007, not for posting on social media about the President of Iran.