HRANA News Agency – At least 16 prisoners, on charges of drug related crimes, armed robbery, and murder, were hanged in two prisons.
Human Rights organisations, earlier, had urged Iranian government to stop the execution of prisoners of drug related offences.
According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency in Iran (HRANA), at least 16 prisoners were hanged in Rajai Shahr and Karaj prisons on Saturday, January 14, 2017.
HRANA had reported earlier that at least 12 prisoners were transferred to solitary confinement in Karaj prison for the execution.
“Mohammad Soleimani”, is the identity of one of the prisoners whose relatives told HRANA: “Mohammad had nothing when he was arrested, but they issued a death penalty for him only because of another prisoner’s allegations. He was just 30 years old and was the father of three children, and was held in prison for a year and four months”.
Earlier, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, issued a joint statement, and called on Iran to stop the execution of 12 prisoners with drug related charges, in the Central Prison of Karaj. These organizations stressed that despite the repeated promises of the government, Iran has not had any appreciable change in reducing the alarming statistics of executions.
Finally, 11 prisoners in solitary confinement in the Central Prison of Karaj, after several days of uncertainty caused by the death of former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, and office closures in Iran, were executed.
Ten authenticated identities by HRANA are as follows: Mohammad Soleimani, Ali Ebadi, Ali Mohammad Lorestani, Ali Reza Moradi, Majid Badrloo, Omid Garshasbi, Ali Yousefi, Seyed Ali Sarvari, Ibrahim Jafari, and Mohsen Jalokhani.
On the other hand at least six prisoners charged with “murder and armed robbery”, were transferred from ward 6 and 3 of Rajai Shahr prison, to solitary confinements for the execution.
At least five of these prisoners were executed in Rajai Shahr prison, and the identities of four prisoners are as follows:
Siamak Shafiei/ penitentiary 6, Abozar Alijani/ penitentiary 6, Saeid Teimouri/ penitentiary 6, Reza Naghizadeh/ Hall 9 of penitentiary 3.
Some of the prisoners who had been transferred, including “Mohammad Kouhi”, with obtaining a deadline from the next of kin, returned to their wards.