Prisoner Dies in Ferdows Prison After Prison Authorities Delay his Transfer to the Hospital

On Sunday,  June 20, Hossein Pahendi Pour died in Ferdows Prison in South Khorasan Province after prison authorities delayed his transfer to the hospital.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting RASANK news, Hossein Pahendi Pour’s car flipped in April of this year during a chase by law enforcement officers. In the crash he seriously injured his back and lungs, but rather than being first given time to heal in the hospital, he was arrested and taken to prison the following day.

The detainee’s condition had been deteriorating day by day, and by the end he was unable to move without the help of other prisoners. Despite the clear urgency of his condition, prison officials denied Mr. Pahendi Pour transfer to a medical center.

Pahendi Pour was eventually taken to a medical center and then to the hospital’s ICU. By this time, however, it was too late and he lost his life.

Prisoner Executed in Eastern Iran

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Ayoub Jahandar, 28, was executed at Ferdows Prison in the early morning hours of October 14, 2018.

A close source related to HRANA that Jahandar was sentenced to death for homicide and armed robbery after killing someone while holding up a Ferdows jewelry store in 2012. “Jahandar’s brother was sentenced to 15 years in prison for colluding with him on the robbery,” the source added.

Ferdows Prison is in the city of Ferdows in South Khorasan Province. Fewer than 300 people are held in this small prison. Reports of executions here have been rare in recent years.

According to Amnesty International’s annual report, Iran ranks first in the world in executions per capita. According to registered data from the Statistics, Publications, and Achievements Division of Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRAI), at least 256 citizens were executed in Iran between October 10, 2017, and October 9, 2018, 15 of which were public hangings. Sixty-eight percent of executions, referred to as “secret executions,” are not announced by the state or Judiciary.