A man who was sentenced to death for drug charges, hanged on Monday morning at
Dastgerd Prison in the Iranian city of Isfahan.
According to IHR sources, prisoner Abdollah Ghanbarzehi, 29, was executed on
April 15, 2019. He was from the Iranian southeastern province of Sistan and
Baluchestan.
A well-informed source told IHR, “Ablollah was arrested with 9 kilograms of
drugs in the city of Isfahan.” Baluchi Activists’ Campaign published Abdollah’s
photos (See below) and mentioned that he was arrested on September 28, 2017.
The new amendment to Iranian Anti-drug law which was enforced on November 14,
2017, includes a mechanism to limit the use of the death penalty and reduce the
sentences of those sentenced to death or life imprisonment. The law was
retroactive and could potentially save many prisoners’ lives after their
case-review process.
The amendment specifies that the death penalty should be limited to those who
have been carrying or have used weapons while trafficking, sponsoring or
organizing narco gangs and inducting children under the age of 18 or people
with intellectual disabilities into such gangs. Those with a prior prison term
of more than 15 years would also be excluded from the commutations under the
amendment.
Following the enforcement of Iranian Anti-drug law in November 2017, the number
of drug-related executions is significantly decreased compared to the past
years. IHR’s Annual Report on the Death Penalty in Iran shows that the number
of people executed in 2018 for drug charges, is significantly reduced. 24
people were executed on drug charges in 2018. The number for 2017 was 230.
However, there is a risk that a new wave of drug-related executions starts
after completing the case review process.
4 hanged in the cities of Gorgan, Isfahan and Shiraz
Iranian regime has executed at least 4 prisoners since April, in the prisons of
Gorgan, Adelabad and Dastgerd.
On Monday, April 15, 2019, a prisoner identified as Abdal Zahedani
(Ghanbarzehi) was executed on drug related charges in Dastgerd Prison of
Isfahan, central Iran.
Also on Thursday, April 11, 2019, the Iranian regime executed 2 prisoners in
Adelabad Prison in Shiraz, south-central Iran.
The victims, Taha Shirdokht and Kazem Minayi were found guilty of drug charges
and murder.
They were transfered to solitary confinement along with 4 other death row
prisoners on April 7.
Just days prior to that, on April 7, 2019, a prisoner identified as 36-year-old
Davoud Mohebzadeh was hanged in the central prison of Gorgan, northern Iran. He
had been transfered to solitary confinement on April 6. No information is
available on the fate of 4 other prisoners.
Iran has remained among the world’s top 5 executioners despite an overall drop
in the number of death sentences, according to a new report by Amnesty
International.
The Iranian regime has a dismal report card of at least 286 executions in 2018,
including the execution of 10 political prisoners, four women and seven
individuals who were sentenced to death for crimes they allegedly committed as
children.
The real numbers were likely to be much higher as use of capital punishment in
Iran is often shrouded in secrecy.
Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, April 17, 2019
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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
