Baluch Hossein Rigi Executed in Mashhad

According to Hal Vash, a Baluch man was executed in Mashhad Central Prison on 12 May. His name has been reported as 23-year-old Hossein Rigi who was sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

An informed source is quoted as saying: “Hossein was arrested for drug-related charges in Mashhad around three years ago and sentenced to death by the city’s Revolutionary Court. His family received his body today.”

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

Ethnic minorities, the Baluch in particular, are grossly overrepresented in execution numbers in Iran. In 2022, at least 174 Baluch minorities including 3 women, were executed in 22 prisons across Iran, making up 30% of overall executions. This is while they represent just 2-6% of Iran’s population.

Baluch minorities also represented almost half of drug-related executions in 2022. 47.3% of the 256 people executed for drug-related charges were Baluch.

According to the 2022 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 256 people were executed for drug-related offences in 2022, a more than two-fold increase compared to 2021 (126) and ten times more than 2020 (25).