Iran | Executions in Qom, Zanjan, Karaj, Gorgan, Qorveh, Shiraz

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); October 24, 2024: Ayoub Sangari and Abdolgharib Maleki, two Afghan nationals on death row for murder, were executed in Qom Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two Afghan men were executed in Qom Central Prison on 22nd October. Their identities have been established as 26-year-old Abdolgharib Maleki and Ayoub Sangari who were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Ayoub Sangari was arrested four years ago and Abdolgharib Maleki was arrested for a murder committed during a street fight.”

At the time of writing, their executions have 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, 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.

Two executed in Zanjan

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); October 24, 2024: Mohammadreza Haji Khani and Mehran Soltani, two men on death row for murder, were executed in Zanjan Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Zanjan Central Prison on 23rd October. Their identities have been established as 27-year-old Mohammadreza Haji Khani and 30-year-old Mehran Soltani who were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Mohammadreza was from Zanjan and was arrested for a murder in a repair shop. Mehran Soltani was also from Zanjan and arrested for the murder of a relative five years ago.”

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

At least five executed in Karaj

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); October 24, 2024: At least five men including two Afghan nationals were executed for drug-related, murder and rape charges in Ghezelhesar Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, at least five men including two Afghan nationals were executed in Ghezelhesar Prison in Karaj on 23rd October. Two of the men who were sentenced to death for drug-related charges have been identified as Mohammad Koushaki and Babakhani Jafari from Nourabad in Lorestan.

The third man who was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder, has been identified as Arman Naserzadeh.

The two Afghan men who were on death row for murder and rape charges in separate cases, have not been identified at the time of writing.

At the time of writing, none of their executions have 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.”

Execution in Gorgan

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); October 24, 2024: Armin Aghchali, a Turkmen man on death row 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 23 October. His identity has been established as Armin Aghchali, a Turkmen citizen who was arrested five years ago.

He was 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 Qorveh

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); October 22, 2024: Mehdi Cheraghi, a Kurdish man on death row for murder, was executed in Qorveh Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a Kurdish man was executed in Qorveh Prison on 21st October. His identity has been established as 29-year-old Mehdi Cheraghi from Ghorveh who was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) by the Criminal Court.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Mehdi Cheraghi was arrested for the murder of a 64-year-old man seven years ago. He was previously transferred to the gallows last year but had obtained an extension.”

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

Execution in Shiraz

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); October 22, 2024: Salman Aghayi, a man on death row for drug-related offences, was executed in Shiraz Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Shiraz (Adel Abad) Central Prison 22 October. His identity has been established as Salman Aghayi, a 33-year-old father of one from Mashhad.

He was arrested in Shiraz three years ago and sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court. He was a school caretaker prior to arrest.

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

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, October 22-24, 2024

_____________________________________________________________________

Twitter/X | Instagram | Telegram | Contact Us

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

Boston Marathon bomber’s appeal of death sentence marked by delays and secrecy

As the city marks the 12th anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombings, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev sits on federal death row for admittingly detonating bombs at the finish line that killed three people and injured more than 260 others. Yet, his fate remains uncertain after a decade of legal wrangling, as his lawyers continue to challenge his death sentence. The federal judge who presided over his 2015 trial was ordered by an appeals court in March 2024 to investigate defense claims that two jurors were biased and should have been stricken from the panel. If he finds they were, then Tsarnaev is entitled to a new trial over whether he should be sentenced to life in prison or death, according to the appeals court.

Indonesia | British grandmother who has spent 12 years on death row hugs grandchildren for first time as they visit Bali prison

Lindsay Sandiford, 68, reportedly shared 'cuddles and kisses' with her loved ones for the first time in years A British grandmother who has been stuck on death row in Bali for more than a decade has been reunited with her loved ones for the first time in years. Lindsay Sandiford has been locked up in Indonesia's notorious Kerobokan Prison since 2013 after being found guilty of trying to smuggle £1.6million of cocaine into the country.

USA | Who are the death row executioners? Disgraced doctors, suspended nurses and drunk drivers

These are just the US executioners we know. But they are a chilling indication of the executioners we don’t know Being an executioner is not the sort of job that gets posted in a local wanted ad. Kids don’t dream about being an executioner when they grow up, and people don’t go to school for it. So how does one become a death row executioner in the US, and who are the people doing it? This was the question I couldn’t help but ask when I began a book project on lethal injection back in 2018. I’m a death penalty researcher, and I was trying to figure out why states are so breathtakingly bad at a procedure that we use on cats and dogs every day. Part of the riddle was who is performing these executions.

Singapore executes man for 2017 murder of pregnant wife and daughter

Teo Ghim Heng, who strangled his pregnant wife and four-year-old daughter in 2017 before burning their bodies, was executed on 16 April 2025 after exhausting all legal avenues. His clemency pleas were rejected and his conviction upheld by the Court of Appeal in 2022. Teo Ghim Heng, who was convicted of murdering his pregnant wife and their four-year-old daughter in 2017, was executed on 16 April 2025. The Singapore Prison Service confirmed that Teo’s death sentence was carried out at Changi Prison Complex. In a news release on the same day, the police stated: “He was accorded full due process under the law, and was represented by legal counsel both at the trial and at the appeal. His petitions to the President for clemency were unsuccessful.”

Indiana Supreme Court sets May 20 execution date for death row inmate Benjamin Ritchie

The condemned man has exhausted his appeals but is likely to seek a clemency plea. Indiana Supreme Court justices on Tuesday set a May 20 execution date for death row inmate Benjamin Ritchie, who was convicted in 2002 for killing a law enforcement officer from Beech Grove. The high court’s decision followed a series of exhausted appeals previously filed by Ritchie and his legal team. The inmate’s request for post-conviction relief was denied in Tuesday’s 13-page order, penned by Chief Justice Loretta Rush, although she disagreed with the decision in her opinion.

USA | They were on federal death row. Now they may go to a supermax prison.

A group of federal prisoners filed a lawsuit this week accusing the Trump administration of seeking to move them to a supermax prison to face tougher conditions as punishment for having their death sentences commuted by President Joe Biden. President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized Biden’s decision to commute the sentences of 37 federal death row inmates to life in prison without parole. After his inauguration, Trump ordered that the former death row prisoners be housed “in conditions consistent with the monstrosity of their crimes and the threats they pose.”

Louisiana to seek death penalty for child killer despite Biden’s commutation

CATAHOULA PARISH, La. — While a federal death row sentence has been reclassified by former President Joe Biden to life without parole, the State of Louisiana still seeks the death penalty for a man convicted of the kidnapping, torturing and murdering a child in Catahoula Parish. According to a statement by the Seventh Judicial District of Louisiana District Attorney Bradley Burget, on Monday, a Catahoula Parish Grand Jury indicted Thomas Steven Sanders for the first-degree murder of 12-year-old Lexis Kaye Roberts in 2010.

Texas executes Moises Mendoza

Moises Sandoval Mendoza receives lethal injection in Huntsville for death of 20-year-old Rachelle O’Neil Tolleson A Texas man convicted of fatally strangling and stabbing a young mother more than 20 years ago was executed on Wednesday evening. Moises Sandoval Mendoza received a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville and was pronounced dead at 6.40pm, authorities said. He was condemned for the March 2004 killing of 20-year-old Rachelle O’Neil Tolleson.

Afghanistan | Four men publicly executed by Taliban with relatives of victims shooting them 'six or seven times' at sport stadium

Four men have been publicly executed by the Taliban, with relatives of their victims shooting them several times in front of spectators at a sport stadium. Two men were shot around six to seven times by a male relative of the victims in front of spectators in Qala-i-Naw, the centre of Afghanistan's Badghis province, witnesses told an AFP journalist in the city. The men had been 'sentenced to retaliatory punishment' for shooting other men, after their cases were 'examined very precisely and repeatedly', the statement said. 'The families of the victims were offered amnesty and peace but they refused.'

Alabama killer whose crime was 'twisted fantasy' set to be executed. Who is James Osgood?

Osgood has long admitted to the murder, agrees that he deserves the death penalty and has stopped all appeals An Alabama man set to be executed Thursday for the brutal rape and murder of his girlfriend's cousin has dropped all his appeals, fired his attorney and says he's ready to die for what he did. James Osgood and his girlfriend were convicted of the 2010 murder of Tracy Lynn Brown after attacking and raping her in what one prosecutor said was one of the grizzliest crimes he'd ever seen. While Osgood initially denied killing Brown, he eventually confessed to police, telling them he remembered "seeing the fear in her eyes." Osgood later urged a judge to give him the death penalty.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog