Three Political Prisoners Transferred from Urmia Prison to an Unknown Location

Sunni political prisoners Mohyedin Ebrahimi, Mohyedin Tazehvared and Davood Jabbari were recently transferred from Urmia Prison to an unidentified location. Given that two of these prisoners have been sentenced to death, this relocation raises concerns about them.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, the whereabouts and conditions of these prisoners are unknown as of this writing. This relocation took place following the confirmation of the death sentences for Mohyeldin Ebrahimi and Mohyeldin Tazehvared. They have asked for a retrial.

On October 23, 2017, Mohyedin Ebrahimi was wounded by direct fire from an Iranian officer at Iraq’s border and arrested on a charge of smuggling alcoholic beverages. Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court of Urmia subsequently sentenced him to death. Following an overturn of the verdict by the supreme court of Iran, the case was sent back to Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court for re-examination. The supreme court confirmed the verdict, and the death sentence was upheld.

On October 29, 2018, Mohyedin Tazehvared was arrested by security forces and transferred to Urmia Prison until the end of legal proceedings. He was also sentenced to death by Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court of Urmia. Until now, his request for a retrial has not been answered.

On June 4, 2017, Davood Jabbari was arrested and then sentenced to 18 years imprisonment on the charge of “membership in ISIS (Daesh)”.

Amir Hossein Moradi Offered Release on Bail

Earlier this Tuesday, October 26, the court granted bail to Amir Hossein Moradi, who was arrested in relation to the nationwide protests of November 2019.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Moradi is currently hospitalized for a skin disease. Based on this court order, if he pays the required 4 billion tomans bail, he will be set free upon being discharged from the hospital. This has been confirmed on the personal social media page of Babak Pak-Nia, Moradi’s lawyer.

Amir Hossein Moradi, Saeed Tamjidi, and Mohammad Rajabi were sentenced to death by the Tehran Revolutionary Court, before a global outcry led to the re-examination of their case.

On Jun 24, 2020, the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)  announced that the death sentence of the three political prisoners had been upheld by the Supreme Court. On July 14, 2020, the spokesman of the Judiciary officially announced the confirmation of their death sentences and said that the sentences had been sent to the prosecutor’s office for execution.

However, according to the lawyers, permission to enter the trial and study the case was given to them on July 15, 2020–weeks after HRANA reported that the death sentence had been confirmed in the Supreme Court.

Less than an hour after the official confirmation of the death sentences for Amir Hossein Moradi, Saeed Tamjidi, and Mohammad Rajabi, “#Don’t_execute” became the world’s top trend with hundreds of thousands of tweets. Human Rights Watch, US President Donald Trump, the Writers’ Association of Iran, and others all reacted to this news. The hashtag has now been used more than ten million times.

The following day, UN human rights experts issued a statement and condemned the death sentences. The statement expressed that Amir Hossein Moradi, Saeed Tamjidi, and Mohammad Rajabi were tortured and forced to confess and that these forced confessions were later used against them in their trials. HRANA has previously conducted numerous conversations with informed sources and extensive research to determine what happened to the prisoners in the various processes of activity up to the conviction.

On July 19, 2020, the three defendants’ lawyers issued a joint statement announcing that the case had been referred to a different branch for retrial after the Supreme Court’s acceptance of Article 477.

In mid-December of 2020, in the aftermath of the global outcry, the young activists’ request for a retrial was finally accepted by Branch 1 of the Supreme Court and their death sentences were finally overturned.

The retrial process since has been comparably unstructured. The cases were submitted to Branch 23 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran for retrial following overturn of their death sentnece, but, due to turnover in the head of the branch, the court session was postponed to May 12. Once again, the court session was cancelled due to the absence of the second judge. In July, their court session was postponed for a fourth time.

Moradi’s release would mark a rare victory in the ongoing legal battle facing so many of those who were involved in the nationwide protests of November 2019.

Brothers Ali-Muhammad Muhammadi and Eslam Muhammadi Executed in Sepidar Prison in Ahvaz

On the morning of Tuesday, October 19, two brothers who had previously been convicted of murder were executed in Sepidar Prison in Ahvaz.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, the prisoners’ mother died of a heart attack, which is believed to have been induced by the execution of her children.

HRANA has identified the brothers as 45-year-old Ali-Muhammad Muhammadi and 38-year-old  Eslam Muhammadi, both residents of Ramhormoz County in Khuzestan Province.

According to an informed source, the brothers were arrested in regards to a group fight that happened in June 2005, in a Patak-e Jalali village in Khuzestan Province.

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 carried-out executions, dubbed as “secret executions” by human rights organizations.

The execution of the Muhammadi brothers has not been announced by officials or reported by domestic media in Iran as of this writing.

At Least Eight Inmates Executed this week in Multiple Prisons, Including Qom, Kermanshah and Isfahan

This week, at least eight inmates were executed in multiple prisons, including Qom, Kermanshah and Isfahan.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Iran Human Rights, two inmates were executed in Kermanshah Prison on Monday, October 11, four inmates were executed in Isfahan on Tuesday, and two others were executed in Qom Prison on Wednesday.

Two inmates who had been convicted of murder were executed in Diezl-Abad Prison in Kermanshah on Monday, October 11. One of the inmates has been identified as 23-year-old Muhammad Latifi. The report suggests that it is likely more inmates were executed on that day than have been confirmed.

Iran Human Rights also has reported the execution of four inmates in Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan. These inmates had been convicted for drug-related crimes.

In another report, on Wednesday, October 13, two inmates, convicted of murder, were executed in Qom Central Prison. One of the inmates has been identified as Ali Amrollahi, a native of Afghanistan. He has been imprisoned since four years ago when he was convicted of “honor killing”.

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 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 carried-out executions, dubbed as “secret executions” by human rights organizations.

None of these executions have been announced by official sources in Iran as of this writing.

 

Inmate Hanged in Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan

On Monday, October 13, an inmate who had previously been sentenced to death on a charge of murder was executed in Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, the executed inmate has been identified as Ismail Ghassabi.

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 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 carried-out executions, dubbed as “secret executions” by human rights organizations.

Ghassabi’s execution has not been announced by official sources in Iran as of this writing.

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Inmate Executed in Ghayen Prison on Drug-Related Charges

On Monday morning, October 11, 2021, an inmate who had previously been sentenced to death on drug-related charges was executed in Ghayen Prison.

According to HRANA, quoting The Baloch Activists Campaign, the inmate has been identified as Ibrahim Rakhshani, a native of Zabol.

According to the last report of the Statistics and Publication Center of the Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRA), between October 8 of 2020 and October 9 of 2021, at least 266 citizens 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 carried-out executions, dubbed as “secret executions” by human rights organizations.

This execution has not been announced by official sources in Iran as of this writing.

Inmate Hanged in Birjand Prison on Drug-Related Charges

Earlier this Monday, October 11, an inmate was executed in Birjand Prison.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Omid Sarani, a native of Zabol, had previously been sentenced to death on drug-related charges.

According to the last report of the Statistics and Publication Center of the Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRA), between October 8 of 2020 and October 9 of 2021, at least 266 citizens were executed and 90 citizens were awarded death sentence.

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

Sarani’s execution has not been announced by official sources in Iran as of this writing.

Supreme Court Confirms Shaker Behrouz’s Death Sentence Despite Evidence Pointing Towards His Innocence

Branch 31 of the Supreme Court of Iran recently confirmed the death sentence of political prisoner Shaker Behrouz, who is currently being held in Urmia Prison, despite a strong alibi pointing to his innocence.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Branch 31 of the Supreme Court confirmed the death sentence of 33-year-old Shaker Behrouz last Tuesday, October 5. The verdict was confirmed in spite of the alibi statements of 12 witnesses, all of whose testimonies the court refused to hear.

The indictment alleges that Behrouz murdered a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

According to an informed source, security agents threatened the victim’s family’s, who was an IRGC member, to cut their allowance from the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs, if they refused to accuse Behrouz.

Another informed source close to the victim’s family also said that the family does not believe he is guilty and are ready to testify to his innocence.

Twelve eye-witnesses signed a statement expressing their readiness to testify that Mr. Behrouz was in his shop when the crime was committed. Despite all the above, the court convicted the defendant without the presence of the family as accusers and hearing of eye-witnesses.

 

 

World Day Against the Death Penalty: Annual Report on Execution in Iran 2020-2021

On the World Day Against the Death Penalty, the Center of Statistics of Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRAI) has published its annual report , in efforts to sensitize the public about the situation of the death penalty in Iran.

HRANA’s Statistics Center relies on the work of HRANA reporters, as well as a network of independent and verifiable sources. It also incorporates disclosures to the media by judicial authorities announcing or confirming prisoner executions, 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 8, 2020, and October 9, 2021, executions and the death penalty have been the focus of 253 HRANA reports. Over this time period, the Iranian authorities issued the death penalty sentence to 90 individuals and have already carried out 266 executions.

Click here to download report in PDF format

Women account for only 9 of the 266 HRANA-confirmed execution victims this year. In addition, 3 juvenile offenders, under the age of 18 when they allegedly committed the crime they were charged with, were executed.

The report includes a breakdown of executions by capital offense: 55.8% were charged with murder, 33.5% were charged with drug and narcotic offenses, 3.4% were charged with Rape, 4.8% were charged with armed robbery/offenses classified as “corruption on earth”, 1.5% were charged with political or security-related offenses, and 0.74% had unknown charges.

The chart below displays execution numbers by the province in which they took place. According to this chart, Khorasan Razavi had the highest number of executions at 17.7%.  Alborz and Sistan and Baluchestan came in second and third, with 13.2% and 9.4% respectively.

The chart below depicts the distribution of executions’ information sources. The chart indicates that 82% of HRANA-confirmed executions were not announced by the official Iranian sources. Undisclosed executions are referred to as “secret” executions.

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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 skylar@hramail.com

Two Men Spared from Execution, One Sentenced to Death

Recently, two men facing death sentences were spared from conviction while a third was sentenced to death.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Dideban,  one man in Tehran was sentenced to death on a charge of murder on Wednesday, 29 September.

Two men were spared from execution in separate criminal lawsuits, in Urmia and Karaj respectively. Both cases were ruled upon exacting satisfaction from the “avenger of blood”, meaning that the victim’s relative or closest acquaintance agreed to refrain from demanding the perpetrators’ execution.

A man indicted for murder was sentenced to the death penalty. He was detained after one man was stabbed to death in a street fight that took place in a park in Islamshahr, July 2018. This 30-year-old man, named Mahmoud, has denied the charge of first-degree murder and claimed that his actions were self-defense.

According to IRNA, a death-row inmate in Urmia Prison, after 11 years imprisonment, could exact the satisfaction of ‘blood avengers’ with the mediation of elders of the community.

The second spared inmate was a 20-year-old Meysam, who was sentenced to death on a charge of killing a 21-year-old man in a fight. After 5 years, he could exact the satisfaction of the victim’s parent by paying 2.5 billion tomans as reparation.