Photos show Iranian man who killed judge, not hacker who 'stole from Israeli bank for Palestinians'
Old photos of an Iranian man put to death in 2007 for murdering a judge have resurfaced in social media posts that falsely claimed he was a hacker who stole millions from an Israeli bank to give to Palestinian Muslims. The images, which were viewed thousands of times, circulated against the background of Israel's war with Palestinian militant group Hamas.
"This is the same brave King 'Hamza' who hacked Israel's bank account and took out 40 million dollars and distributed it among the Muslims of Palestine," read Urdu-language text above two photos used in a YouTube video published on April 12, 2024.
The photos appear to show a man smiling while standing on a platform with a noose around his neck.
The same photos were also shared on Facebook here; and elsewhere on YouTube here and here, where it was viewed more than 6,500 times.
They circulated following months of war in Gaza. Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7 resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34,183 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.
The photos shared on social media, however, are unrelated to the conflict.
Public execution in Tehran
A reverse image search on Google found a photo of a man wearing the same clothing uploaded to Getty Images' website on August 2, 2007 (archived link).
The photo was credited to AFP, and its caption identified the person as Majid Kavousifar.
Below is a screenshot comparison between the photos shared in the false post (left) and the AFP photo (right):
Kavousifar and his nephew were convicted of murdering Iranian judge Hassan Moghaddas in August 2005, AFP reported.
Moghaddas, who worked at the "guidance" court that handles sensitive cases of "moral corruption", was murdered by two gunmen when he climbed into his car after work.
Kavousifar and his nephew were hanged from cranes in August 2007 at the exact spot where Moghaddas was murdered in the middle of a busy business district.
A similar photo of Kavousifar shortly before he was hanged was also used in a BBC News article (archived link).
Similar photos of Kavousifar at the gallows have previously circulated with other false claims, including that they show Algerian hacker Hamza bin Dalaj "executed for stealing money from Israeli banks".
AFP has also debunked false claims that Kavousifar was hanged for taking part in anti-government protests in Iran in September 2022, and that the photos showed a man sentenced to death in Syria for preaching the gospel.
