Iran | Executions in Kashan, Bandarabbas, Urmia, Gorgan, Hamedan, Sanandaj

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 29, 2023: Reza Eyvazi, a man sentenced to death for drug-related charges, was executed in Kashan Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Kashan Prison on 28 December. His identity has been established as 30-year-old Reza Eyvazi from Najaf Abad.

He was arrested two years ago and sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

On 21 December, IHRNGO warned of more drug executions being carried out after an Iranian MP from Lorestan province stated that the cases of 1000-2000 drug death row inmates were at implementation stage.

The number of drug executions dramatically dropped in 2018 following a 2017 Amendment to the Anti-Narcotics Laws. Consequently, drug executions ranged between 24-30 per annum between 2018-2020. The Amendment was reversed in practice in 2021 when executions increased ten-fold to 126 in 2021 and doubled again in 2022 with 256 drug-related executions. On 13 September 2023, IHRNGO reported a 94% rise in the number of drug-related executions in the year following the start of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement in September 2022.

Execution in Bandarabbas

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 29, 2023: Karim Aminikhah, a man sentenced to death for drug-related charges, was executed in Bandarabbas Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Bandarabbas Central Prison on 28 December. His identity has been established as 65-year-old Karim Aminikhah from Boukan.

He was arrested five years ago and sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court. According to his relatives, the drugs found in his car had been stashed there by someone else and did not belong to him.

At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

3 Men and 1 Woman Executed for Espionage Charges in Urmia

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 29, 2023: Vafa Hanareh, Aram Omari Bardiani, Rahman Parhazu and Nasim Namazi were executed for charges of “moharebeh (enmity against god) and efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth) through collaborating with the Zionist regime to disrupt national security” in Urmia Central Prison.

Iran Human Rights Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: “Today’s executions are the Islamic Republic’s hard revenge on the Iranian people. The death sentences of these four individuals, like those of most prisoners with security charges, were issued by revolutionary courts based on confessions obtained under torture and without fair trials, and they have no legal validity.

According to the Judiciary’s Mizan news agency, three men and a woman were executed in Urmia Central Prison on 29 December. Their identities have been reported as Vafa Hanareh, Aram Omari Bardiani, Rahman Parhazu and Nasim Namazi. They were sentenced to death for charges of “moharebeh (enmity against god) and efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth) through collaborating with the Zionist regime to disrupt national security.”

Mizan reported their executions to have taken place on 29 December. However, according to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, Vafa, Aram, Rahman and Nasim were executed the previous night (28 December).

A fifth prisoner named Mansour Rasouli who was transferred to pre-execution solitary confinement with the other four was returned to his cell after his hanging was delayed for unknown reasons.

An informed source told Iran Human Rights: “Mansour Rasouli has been behind bars since April 2022. Vafa, Aram, Rahman and Nasim were arrested 18 months ago and sentenced to death.”

According to Mizan, of the ten defendants in the case, four received death penalties and the other six were sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.

The hasty execution of the four prisoners shortly after the killing of an IRGC commander in Syria, increases suspicions of their retaliatory nature.

Man executed in Gorgan

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 29, 2023: Hassan Rahbar, a man sentenced to death for drug-related charges, was executed in Gorgan Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Gorgan Central Prison on 28 December. His identity has been established as 36-year-old Hassan Rahbar.

He was arrested two years ago and sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Execution in Hamedan

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 29, 2023: Ramin Faghiri, a man sentenced to death for drug-related charges, was executed in Hamedan Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Hamedan Central Prison on 27 December. His identity has been established as 27-year-old Ramin Faghiri from the village of Vandarabad Kongavar.

He was arrested three years ago and sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Execution in Sanandaj

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 28, 2023: Mohammadreza Mehraban was executed for murder charges in Sanandaj Central Prison.

According to Kurdpa, a man was executed in Sanandaj Central Prison on 26 December. His identity has been established as 35-year-old Mohammadreza Mehraban from Ghorveh

He was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court.

At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Those charged with the umbrella term of “intentional murder” are sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) regardless of intent or circumstances due to a lack of grading in law. Once a defendant has been convicted, as the plaintiffs, the victim’s family are required to choose between death as retribution, diya (blood money) or forgiveness.

Source: iranhr.net, Staff, December 28-29, 2023

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Alabama | Gov. Ivey commutes Charles “Sonny” Burton’s death sentence

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - Gov. Kay Ivey has commuted the death sentence of Charles “Sonny” Burton, who was set to be executed Thursday. The governor’s office released the following statement: “Governor Kay Ivey on Tuesday announced that she has commuted the death sentence of Charles L. Burton to life in prison with no chance of parole. Mr. Burton was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1991 capital murder of Doug Battle in Talladega, Alabama. As required by law, the governor first reached out to a representative of Mr. Battle’s family. She also notified the attorney general. Governor Ivey’s letter to Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm is attached.

Texas executes Cedric Ricks

A Texas man was put to death Wednesday evening for fatally stabbing his girlfriend and her 8-year-old son in 2013, apologizing profusely to her older son who survived with multiple stab wounds and witnessed the execution. Cedric Ricks, 51, was pronounced dead at 6:55 p.m. CDT following a lethal dose of the sedative pentobarbital at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. He was condemned for the May 2013 killings of 30-year-old Roxann Sanchez and her son Anthony Figueroa at their apartment in the greater Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Bedford. Sanchez’s 12-year-old son, Marcus Figueroa, was stabbed 25 times and feigned death in order to survive.

Missouri Man Said DNA Test Could Prove Innocence. He Was Executed Before a Court Ruled.

Lance Shockley died by lethal injection last year. State courts have rejected prisoners’ requests for DNA testing in recent years. Lance Shockley, a man on death row in Missouri, wanted items from the crime scene to undergo DNA testing to potentially prove his innocence. The court scheduled proceedings on his request — but the date set was for two days after his execution. Patty Prewitt can’t have her DNA tested — and fully clear her name — because her sentence was commuted and she is no longer in prison. And others, including Lamar McVay, who is serving 30 years for a robbery, can’t even get an answer from the state on his DNA testing request. He's still awaiting a ruling on a motion he filed in September 2022.

Maldives | Death penalty law for drug trafficking now in effect

MALÉ, Maldives (DPN) — The Maldives has officially brought into force an amendment to its Narcotics Act that introduces the death penalty for large-scale drug trafficking, marking a significant and controversial shift in the island nation’s criminal justice policy. The amended law, which took effect Saturday, March 7, 2026, allows for capital punishment in cases involving the smuggling and importation of specific quantities of illicit substances. The move fulfills a key pledge by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s administration to crack down on the country’s growing narcotics crisis and protect what he has termed the nation’s “100 percent Islamic society.” Thresholds for Capital Punishment Under the new provisions, the death penalty is not a mandatory sentence but an available option for the judiciary when specific criteria are met. The law establishes clear weight thresholds for substances brought into the country: Cannabis: More than 350 grams. Diamorphine (Heroin): More than 250 grams....

20 Minutes to Death: Witness to the Last Execution in France

The following document is a written record of convicted killer Hamida Djandoubi's last moments before he was guillotined in a Marseilles prison on September 10, 1977. This written record -- dated September 9 -- was written by a judge appointed to witness the execution. Djandoubi's execution was the last execution carried out in France before capital punishment was abolished in 1981. Then-President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, who had voiced his "loathing for the death penalty" before he was elected to office, flatly turned down Djandoubi's appeal for clemency and chose to let "Justice run its course", as he did on two previous instances ( Christian Ranucci , executed on July 28, 1976 and Jérôme Carrein , executed on June 23, 1977). Hamida Djandoubi , a Tunisian national, was sentenced to death for killing his former lover, Elisabeth Bousquet. He was executed in Marseilles' Baumettes prison in September 1977. The following text was writ...

Alabama | Death row inmate granted clemency shares emotional message on day he was set to die

Alabama governor commuted death sentence of Charles Burton, 75, who didn't kill anyone An Alabama man who was outside a building when a man was killed in an armed robbery is looking at life as "a gift from God" after being granted clemency by the state’s governor just days before he was scheduled to be executed. Charles "Sonny" Burton, 75, was sentenced to death for his role in the robbery of a Talladega AutoZone store that left a man dead in 1991. While Burton left the store before Derrick DeBruce gunned down customer Doug Battle, he was tried and convicted as an accomplice, with prosecutors insisting Burton acted as the group’s leader in the armed robbery.

U.S. | These States Don’t Want You to See the Cruelty of Their Executions

The use of the death penalty has risen sharply in the United States, with more executions in 2025 than any year since 2009. It is a cruel and unjust development. In theory, the death penalty is reserved for “the worst of the worst.” In practice, it is very different. People who are executed for their crimes are disproportionately poor or intellectually disabled and often lacked good lawyers. They are also more likely to be sentenced to death if they have been convicted of killing a white person. Anthony Boyd, who maintained his innocence until Alabama executed him last year at age 54, had an inexperienced court-appointed lawyer and was convicted on disputed eyewitness testimony. Charles Flores, 56, has spent 27 years on death row in Texas for a murder conviction based solely on unreliable testimony from a hypnotized witness. Robert Roberson, who has autism, remains on death row there despite having been convicted on now-debunked evidence that he had shaken his daughter to death.

Florida | Governor DeSantis signs death warrant in 2008 murder case

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a death warrant for Michael L. King, setting an execution date of March 17, 2026, at 6 p.m. King was convicted and sentenced to death for the 2008 kidnapping, sexual battery and murder of Denise Amber Lee, a 21-year-old North Port mother. On January 17, 2008, Michael Lee King abducted 21-year-old Denise Amber Lee from her North Port home by forcing her into his green Chevrolet Camaro. He drove her around while she was bound, including to his cousin's house to borrow tools like a shovel. King took her to his home, where he sexually battered her, then placed her in the backseat of his car. Later that evening, he drove to a remote area, shot her in the face, and buried her nude body in a shallow grave. Her remains were discovered two days later. During the crime, multiple 9-1-1 calls were made, but communication breakdowns between emergency dispatch centers delayed the response. The case drew national attention and prompted w...

Supreme Court Denies Alabama Appeal, Allowing New Trial in Death Row Case

The U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for a new trial for one of Alabama’s longest-serving people on death row after declining to review a lower court ruling that prosecutors violated his constitutional rights by intentionally rejecting Black jurors. According to an article written by the Associated Press, one of the longest-serving death row inmates in Alabama might receive a new trial after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the state’s appeal of a lower court’s ruling that prosecutors had violated his rights by intentionally rejecting Black jurors. According to the article, on Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the ruling from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. This decision paved the way for Michael Sockwell, the 63-year-old death row inmate, to receive a new trial.

Texas Plans Second Execution of the Year

Cedric Ricks is set to be killed on March 11 Cedric Ricks spoke in his own defense at his 2013 murder trial, something most defendants accused of a terrible crime do not do. Ricks confessed that he had killed his girlfriend, Roxann Sanchez, and her 8-year-old son. He admitted he was aggressive and had trouble controlling his anger, stating that he was “sorry about everything.” The Tarrant County jury was unmoved. Ricks has spent the last 13 years on death row and is scheduled to be executed on March 11.

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