Tag: Capital Punishment

World Day Against the Death Penalty: Annual Report on Execution in Iran 2021-2022

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Executions, News
capital offense, Capital Punishment, Death Penalty, Death row, Death sentence, Drug-related charges, drug-related offenses, Evin, executions, executions in iran, iran death penalty, Juvenile Offenders, Rajai-Shahr, World Day Against the Death Penalty

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)- On the World Day against the Death Penalty, the Center of Statistics of Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRA) has published its annual report in an effort to sensitize the public about the death penalty situation in Iran, particularly thousands of death-row convicts awaiting their looming executions.

HRA’s Statistics Center relies on the work of HRANA reporters, as well as a network of independent and verifiable sources. It also incorporates the judicial authorities’ announcements or confirmations of prisoner executions on media, and as such, is exposed to a margin of error representing efforts by the Iranian authorities to omit, conceal, or restrict the collection of such data.

Between October 10, 2021, and October 7, 2022, at least 528 convicts were executed by hanging in Iran, rising to 98% compared to the same period last year. Of these executions, one was carried out in public. Many of the defendants were denied a fair trial and due process.

Click here to download report in PDF format

HRANA obtained 439 reports regarding executions and death penalty in Iran during this period. The identified executed individuals, include 20 women and 6 juvenile offenders under the age of 18 at the time of alleged crime. Compared to the last period, the execution of female offenders has raised 55%.

According to the reports obtained by HRANA, over this period, Iranian authorities sentenced at least 89 defendants to death penalty, including at least 5 women, and 7 public executions.  Issuing death sentence decreased by 1% compared to the last year.

As the chart below shows a breakdown of executions by capital offense: 50.38% were charged with murder, 41.29% with drug and narcotic offenses, 3.03% with rape, 1.70% with non-political armed robbery/offenses classified as “corruption on earth,” and 0.38% with political or security-related offenses. Moreover, 0.38% were convicted of security charges (spying, terror, and bombing), 0.38% were convicted of armed robbery, and 2.46% of charges are unknown.

The pie chart below displays execution numbers by the province in which they took place. According to this chart, the Sistan and Baluchestan Province had the highest number of executions at 16%. Alborz (where three overcrowded prisons are located) and Fars Provinces come second and third, with 16.48% and 11.93%, respectively.

The chart below depicts the distribution of executions’ information sources. The chart indicates that 70% of HRANA-confirmed executions were not announced by the official Iranian sources. Undisclosed executions are referred to as “secret” executions.

 

The chart above shows the execution numbers by gender.

The pie chart below displays execution numbers by the prison where the executions were carried out. The Rajai-Shahr Prison officials have carried out the highest number of executions with 14.42%. Zahedan Prison ranks second with 12,33% executions.

The chart below displays percentage of executions carried out in public Vs. the number of executions that were carried out in prison. According to statistics, 0.19% of the executions in Iran were carried out in public.

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Click here to download the report in PDF format.

For further inquiries please contact Skylar Thompson, Senior Advocacy Coordinator Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRA) at [email protected]

Two Inmates Executed in Mashhad and Kerman Prisons

Posted on by A MN
Executions, News
Bam, Capital Punishment, Death Penalty, Death row, Death sentence, Drug-related charges, Emrahim Narooie, Execution, Gholjaie, Heydar Gholjaie, Kerman, Kerman prison, Mashhad, Zahedan

Two inmates were recently executed in Mashhad and Kerman Prisons.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Rasank News, in two separate cases, Emrahim Narooie and Heydar Gholjaie, both residents of Zahedan County, were executed in Mashhad and Kerman Prisons respectively. They had been sentenced to death on drug-related charges.

On Sunday, November 28,  Narooie was executed in Mashhad Prison. Gholjaie was executed in Kerman Prison on Thursday, November 25.

Reportedly, Heydar Gholjaie visited his family before his execution. In 2018, he was arrested at a checkpoint on the road connecting Bam City to Kerman for carrying drugs. Since then he had been jailed in Kerman Prison.

The most recent report of the Statistics and Publication Center of the Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRA) states that between October 8 of 2020 and October 9 of 2021, at least 266 citizens, three of whom were juvenile offenders, were executed and 90 citizens were sentenced to death.

As the report points out, Iran’s judicial authorities have not publicly announced over 82% of executions. These unreported executions are dubbed as “secret executions” by human rights organizations.

Official sources and news outlets inside Iran have not reported on these executions as of this writing.

 

 

Three Inmates Executed in Rajai Shahr and Kerman Prisons

Posted on by A MN
Executions, News
Abdolsattar She-Baksh, Arman Abdolali, Capital Punishment, Citizen executed, Citizen executions, citizen executions per-capita, Death Penalty, Death row, death sentenc, Death sentence, juvenile offender, Kerman, Kerman prison, Khan-Mohammad Rahman-Zehi, Rajai Shahr Prison, Rajai-Shahr, Secret executions

This week, in addition to juvenile offender Arman Abdolali, three inmates were executed in Rajai Shahr and Kerman Prisons.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting ISNA, an inmate who was previously convicted of murder was executed in Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj on Wednesday, November 24. At the same time, three other inmates, after being sent to the foot of the gallows, were able to obtain additional time from the “blood avengers” at the very last minute, and were sent back to their cells.

Reportedly, the executed man was personnel of a contracting company working for Tehran municipality. As part of his duty, he stopped a van driver, who was working as a scrap metal collector, to check his permit for this work. The verbal quarrel ends up in a fight between them. During the fight, the van driver was hit in the head, fainted and subsequently died from the fracture in his head in hospital.

According to the victim’s son, who witnessed the incident, the man hit his father’s head with brass knuckles led to his death. Despite recognizing the homicide as a semi-deliberate killing by the judge in the first trial, the Supreme Court overturned the verdict. In the second trial, he was sentenced to death and the verdict was confirmed by the Supreme Court. He had been sent to the gallows the previous year, but was that time able to obtain some more time from the blood avengers before being executed.

In Kerman Prison, according to Rasank news, on Thursday, November 25, two inmates, who have been identified as Abdolsattar She-Baksh and Khan-Mohammad Rahman-Zehi, were executed. They have been charged with drug-related crimes. Both had been in jail for three years.

The most recent report of the Statistics and Publication Center of the Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRA) states that between October 8 of 2020 and October 9 of 2021, at least 266 citizens, three of whom were juvenile offenders, were executed and 90 citizens were sentenced to death.

As the report points out, Iran’s judicial authorities do not publicly announce over 82% of executions. These unreported executions are known as “secret executions” by human rights organizations.

Park Ranger Sentenced to Death for Murder of Illegal Hunter

Posted on by A MN
Environment, Executions, News, Other
Bisotun, Boroomand Najafi, Capital Punishment, Citizen sentenced to death, Death Penalty, Death row, Death sentence, Kermanshah, Kermanshah province

The criminal court of Kermanshah Province recently sentenced a park ranger to death for the murder of an illegal hunter while he was poaching in the protected nature area Bisotun.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Javan Online, Branch 3 of the Criminal Court has issued this verdict. The report has identified the convicted park ranger as Boroomand Najafi.

In August 2020, during a fight between several forest rangers and several illegal hunters, one of the hunters was shot dead.

The most recent report of the Statistics and Publication Center of the Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRA) states that between October 8 of 2020 and October 9 of 2021, at least 266 citizens, three of whom were juvenile offenders, were executed and 90 citizens were sentenced to death.

 

Two Inmates Sentenced to Death; One Spared from Execution

Posted on by A MN
Executions, News
Aboldazim, Alireza Solhi, Ardabil, Ardabil City, Branch 24, Capital Punishment, capital punishment iran, Death Penalty, Death sentence, Elmira, Esmail, Rokna, Solhi

Two inmates were recently sentenced to death while one was spared from execution.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Rokna, physician Alireza Solhi was recently sentenced to death  for killing his wife and grandmother in Tabriz. Reportedly, in October 2016, on the day of the incident, Solhi’s family was poisoned and hospitalized from food he had prepared, after which his wife Elmira and his grandmother lost their lives.

In the first trial, though he never confessed to intentional poisoning, Solhi was sentenced to death. This verdict was overturned by the Supreme Court, and the case was sent back to criminal court. In the second trial, he could exact the satisfaction of the second victim’s ‘blood avengers’ but not the second victim’s one for which, consequently, he was condemned to death. This verdict was confirmed by Branch 24 of the Supreme Court.

According to another report, in Tehran, an inmate, identified by his first name as 23-year-old Esmail, was sentenced to death on the charge of killing a young man in a fight. In May 2017, the police station in Aboldazim city was reported over a fight among three men. In this fight, a 27-year-old man was stabbed and died in hospital from severe wounds. After two days of investigation, police arrested the convicted inmate for murder. In the trial, the defendant claimed that he stabbed the young man in self-defense.

In Ardabil City, an inmate on death row was spared from execution after exacting satisfaction of the victim’s family. In this case, in 2010, a man reported his wife missing to the police. After a one week search, the police found her body in a morass. Reportedly, the woman was strangled to death. The police arrested the victim’s husband as the primary suspect. The accused, however, neither confessed during interrogation nor trial. Finally, the family’s victim was satisfied to halt the execution. The 55-year-old man was released from jail after spending 11 years in prison.

 

 

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Two Inmates Executed in Zahedan and Rajai Shahr Prisons

Posted on by A MN
Executions, News
Capital Punishment, citizen executions per-capita, executions, Javad Qoljai, Karaj, Kermanshah, Kermanshah province, Manuchehr Kazemi Varmaleh, Rajai Shahr Prison, Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj, Rajai-Shahr, Secret executions

In the last two days, two inmates were executed in Zahedan and Rajai Shahr Prisons.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists,  an inmate who was previously convicted of murder was executed this Wednesday, November 3, in Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj.

HRANA has identified the inmate as 33-year-old Manuchehr Kazemi Varmaleh, who was a resident of Harsin County in Kermanshah Province.

Another inmate, who has been identified as Javad Qoljai, was executed on Thursday, November 4, in Zahedan Prison on a charge of murder.

According to HRANA, quoting Rasank, Qoljai was arrested two years ago and convicted of the murder of one of his friends. He had been in prison since, until his execution yesterday.

The most recent report of the Statistics and Publication Center of the Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRA) states that between October 8 of 2020 and October 9 of 2021, at least 266 citizens, three of whom were juvenile offenders, were executed and 90 citizens were sentenced to death.

As the report points out, Iran’s judicial authorities do not publicly announce over 82% of executions. These unreported executions are known as “secret executions” by human rights organizations.

Neither Qoljai’s nor Varmaleh’s executions have been reported by official sources in Iran as of this writing.

Political Prisoner Kamran Rezaiefar Sentenced to Death by Revolutionary Court of Tehran

Posted on by A MN
News, Prisoners
Capital Punishment, Death Penalty, Death row, Death sentence, Evin, Evin Prison, Kamran Rezaiefar, Revolutionary Court of Tehran, Rezaiefar, Tehran

Recently, Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran sentenced political prisoner Kamran Rezaiefar to death. Rezaiefar’s trial began on December 28, 2020.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, political prisoner Kamran Rezaiefar has been sentenced to death on the charge of the so-called “spreading corruption on earth”. He was notified about his charges in September of this year.

In January 2020, Kamran Rezaiefar was arrested by the security forces on a charge of “association with The People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran (MEK)”. He was released on bail after enduring 77 days in solitary confinement in wards 240 and 209 of Evin Prison.

In June 2020, he was arrested again this time for a charge of “spreading corruption on earth” and transferred to Evin Prison.

 

Inmate Executed in Mashhad Prison

Posted on by A MN
Executions, News
Abdollah, Capital Punishment, Citizen executed, Citizen execution, Death Penalty, Death row, Death sentence, Khorasan Province, Mashhad, Mashhad Prison, Secret executions, Vakilabad prison

On Wednesday, November 3, an inmate who had been previously convicted of murder was executed in Mashhad Prison.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Rokna, an inmate, identified by his first name as Abdollah had been arrested in 2018 along with two other men and accused of murdering a 60-year-old man.

Following the completion of the investigation, the criminal case was delivered to Branch 15 of the Criminal Court in Khorasan Province. The court sentenced Abdollah to the death penalty on a charge of murder and imprisonment and lashes on a charge of stealing. The second defendant was sentenced to 25 years in prison on the charge of aiding in murder and murder planning. The third-row defendant, identified as 19-year-old Saeed, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on the charge of aiding and abetting the murder.

The defendants have also been sentenced to long-term imprisonment for previous attempting to murder and murder planning. These verdicts were upheld by branch 39 of the Supreme Court of Iran.

The most recent report of the Statistics and Publication Center of the Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRA) states that between October 8 of 2020 and October 9 of 2021, at least 266 citizens, three of whom were juvenile offenders, were executed and 90 citizens were sentenced to death.

As the report points out, Iran’s judicial authorities do not publicly announce over 82% of executions. These unreported executions are known as “secret executions” by human rights organizations.

Susan Rezaei-Poor Executed in Central Prison of Qazvin

Posted on by A MN
Executions, News, Women
Capital Punishment, Central Prison of Qazvin, citizen executions per-capita, Citizens executed, Death Penalty, Death row, Death sentence, Qazvin, Secret executions, Susan Rezaei-Poor

On Wednesday, October 27, a female inmate who had been convicted of murdering her husband was executed in the Central Prison of Qazvin.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Iran Human Rights, Susan Rezaei-Poor, who had been previously sentenced to death, was executed in the Central Prison of Qazvin after spending six years in prison.

“Susan was forced by her family to marry her cousin without her consent,” an informed source stated. “In her confession, she said that her husband used to get drunk from the afternoon until late at night and beat her every day. Completely fed up with his behavior, she ultimately killed him.”

The most recent report of the Statistics and Publication Center of the Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRA) states that between October 8 of 2020 and October 9 of 2021, at least 266 citizens, including three juvenile offenders, were executed and 90 citizens were sentenced to death.

As the report points out, Iran’s judicial authorities do not publicly announce over 82% of executions. These unreported executions are known as “secret executions” by human rights organizations.

Rezaei-Poor’s execution has not been reported by official sources in Iran as of this writing.

 

Inmate Executed in the Central Prison of Karaj City

Posted on by A MN
Executions, News
Capital Punishment, Central Penitentiary of Karaj, Central Prison of Karaj, Citizen executed, Death Penalty, Death row, Karaj, Karaj city, Khoramdasht

On Wednesday, October 20, an inmate was executed in the Central Prison of Karaj City.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Iran Newspaper, the inmate had been previously sentenced to death for murdering his wife.

The report states that on November 12, 2018, a middle-aged man reported to the police station in Khoramdasht in Karaj city that his daughter was missing and had not returned home after leaving to go to university.

After a few days, the police found the missing girl’s half-burnt body beside a road. Forensic medicine revealed that the victim had been suffocated to death before the body was burned.

From further investigation, it turned out that after she found out about her husband’s cheating, she was killed by her husband and with the aid of his mistress. Reportedly, the man confessed the crime at trial. Subsequently, the court sentenced him to death and his mistress to ten years in prison on the charge of aiding in kidnapping and murder. The verdict was confirmed by the supreme court of Iran.

The most recent report of the Statistics and Publication Center of the Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRA) states that between October 8 of 2020 and October 9 of 2021, at least 266 citizens, including three juvenile offenders, were executed and 90 citizens were sentenced to death.

The report does not mention the name of the executed man.