Iran | Executions in Arak, Sabzevar, Kerman, Bam, Rafsanjan, Khorramabad

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); August 14, 2024: Mehdi Hosseini and Amir Tasbihi were executed for drug-related charges in Arak Central Prison.

According to Hengaw, two men were executed in Arak Central Prison on 4 August. Their identities have been reported as Mehdi Hosseini from Arak and Amir Tasbihi from Saveh. Mehdi was arrested six years ago and Amir, two years ago. Both men were sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

At the time of writing, their executions have not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Drug-related executions have continuously risen every year since 2021. According to IHRNGO’s 2023 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 471 people were executed for drug-related charges, an 84% increase compared to 2022 (256) and about 18 times the average of drug-related executions in 2018-2020. In the first six months of 2024, at least 147 people were executed for the charges.

On 10 April 2024, 80+ Iranian and international organisations and groups called for joint action to stop drug-related executions, urging UNODC to make “any cooperation with the Islamic Republic contingent on a complete halt on drug-related executions.”

Two executed in Sabzevar

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); August 14, 2024: Reza Zardkouhi and Mousa-alreza Ebrahimi were executed for drug-related charges in Sabzevar Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Sabzevar Prison on 14 August. Their identities have been established as 31-year-old Reza Zardkouhi and 25-year-old Mousa-alreza Ebrahimi who were both sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Reza Zardkouhi was from Davarzan and arrested around four years ago. Mousa-alreza Ebrahimi was from Sabzevar and on death row for three years.”

At the time of writing, their executions have not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Two executed in Kerman and Bam prisons (Kerman province)

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); August 14, 2024: Two Baluch men named Farajollah Khashi and Hamed Shehbakhsh were executed for drug-related charges in Kerman and Bam prisons.

According to Haal Vsh, a Baluch man was executed in Kerman Central Prison on 13 August. His identity has been reported as 47-year-old Farajollah Khashi who was sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

Another Baluch man named Hamed Shehbakhsh, 28 years old, was executed at the prison for the same charges on 14 August.

An informed source is quoted as saying: “Farajollah was going to Kerman for medical treatment with one of his friends when they were stopped and drugs were found in the car which he wasn’t aware of. Yet, he was sentenced to death with a two-degree reduction. He was executed while his case was still being processed by the Kerman Amnesty Commission.”

Unidentified Afghan Man with Mental Disorder Executed in Rafsanjan

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); August 13, 2024: State media reported the execution of an Afghan national with a mental disorder for charges of moharebeh (enmity against god) in Rafsanjan Prison.

According to IRNA, an Afghan national was executed in Rafsanjan Prison on 13 August. The unnamed was sentenced to death for charges of moharebeh for killing six Afghan nationals and four Rafsanjan residents on 7 August 2022.

Ebrahim Hamidi, the Kerman Chief Justice said: “The defendant attempted suicide after fleeing the scene but the police and ambulance arrived in time and he was transferred to a medical centre for treatment. After a partial recovery, the defendant appeared before the special homicide investigator of Rafsanjan and was charged with committing 10 counts of intentional murder with a cold weapon, assault by drawing a weapon with the intention of killing, which led to public insecurity, and being in the country illegally.”

According to another state report, the executed man suffered from a mental disorder.

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, the victim’s family are required to choose between death as retribution, diya (blood money) or forgiveness. Crucially, while an indicative amount is set by the Judiciary every year, there is no legal limit to how much can be demanded by families of the victims. IHRNGO has recorded many cases where defendants are executed because they cannot afford to pay the blood money.

In 2023, at least 282 people including two juvenile offenders and 15 women, were executed for murder charges, the second highest number of qisas executions since 2010. Only 20% of the recorded qisas executions were announced by official sources. In 2023, Iran Human Rights also recorded 857 cases of families choosing diya or forgiveness instead of qisas executions.

6 Men Executed in Khorramabad

Iran Human Rights (IHNRGO); August 13, 2024: Hossein Hatami, Naser Geravand, Milad Hadipour, Shirzad Reshadat, Ayat Biranvand and an unidentified man were executed for drug-related and murder charges in Khorramabad Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, four men were executed in Khorramabad Central Prison on 10 August. Two of the men were sentenced to death for drug-related charges and have been identified as Hossein Hatami and Naser Geravand. The two other men, identified as Milad Hadipour and Shirzad Reshadat, were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder in the same case.

An informed source told Iran Human Rights: “Hossein Hatami was from Boroujerd and arrested for drug offences two years ago. Naser Geravand was from Khorramabad and arrested for the same charges five years ago. Milad Hadipour and Shirzad Reshadat were arrested in the same case three years ago and sentenced to qisas.”

Two other men were executed at the prison on 12 August. One of their identities has been established as 29-year-old Ayat Biranvand from Khorramabad. The second man’s identity has not been established at the time of writing. Both men were on death row for murder.

According to informed sources, Ayat Biranvand was arrested for the murder of his cousin five years ago.

At the time of writing, none of their executions have been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, August 13-14, 2024

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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."

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