Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); January 23, 2025: Sardar Mohammad, an Afghan national on death row for drug-related offences, was executed in Bandarabbas Central Prison.
According to Haal Vsh, an Afghan man was hanged in Bandarabbas Central Prison on 21st January 2025. His identity has been reported as Sardar Mohammad, a 43-year-old married father from the Khak Sefid region in Afghanistan’s Farah province . He was arrested for drug-related offences a year and a half ago and sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court. He was transferred to the pre-execution solitary confinement cells of the prison on Sunday and executed without a final visit with his family.
At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.
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.”