Bahman Sheikh Hosseini at Imminent Risk of Execution in Birjand

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was transferred to solitary confinement on 19 October in preparation for his execution in Birjand Central Prison. His identity has been established as Bahman Sheikh Hosseini, a 32-year-old Baluch man from the Sheikh Hosseini tribe.

He was arrested in Birjand four years ago and sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

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.”