At Least 12 Men Transferred for Execution in Karaj, Saravan and Semnan

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, at least nine men held in Ghezelhesar Prison in Karaj were transferred to pre-execution solitary confinement cells on 30 September. Two of the men who were sentenced to moharebeh for armed robbery have been identified as Ali Mamishlu and Morteza Abdolhosseinpour. Five of the other men were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder have been identified as Azizollah Nasiri (Adinehvand), Saber Hagh Moradi, Farzollah Nasiri, Behnam Dastjerdi and Moloud Khaleghi. The charges against these men may not be accurate and change according to more accurate information. The remaining two men who have not been identified at the time of writing, are on death row for rape charges.

Furthermore, a Baluch man was also transferred for execution on 30 September in Saravan Prison in Sistan and Baluchistan province. His identity has been established as Rashid Sepahi, a 30-year-old man arrested for drug-related offences in Saravan five years ago.

On 29 September, two other men were transferred for execution in Semnan Central Prison. Their identities have been established Dastgir Sasouli, a 45-year-old Baluch man from Zahak and Naser Jamshidi, a 40-year-old man from Yazd. They were sentenced to death for drug-related offences by the Revolutionary Court.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Dastgir Sasouli was arrested for carrying drugs six years ago and Naser Jamshidi was arrested three years ago.”

Drug-related executions have continuously risen every year since 2021. According to IHRNGO’s 2023 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 471 people were executed for drug-related charges, an 84% increase compared to 2022 (256) and about 18 times the average of drug-related executions in 2018-2020. In the first six months of 2024, at least 147 people were executed for the charges.

On 10 April 2024, 80+ Iranian and international organisations and groups called for joint action to stop drug-related executions, urging UNODC to make “any cooperation with the Islamic Republic contingent on a complete halt on drug-related executions.”