A woman only identified as Mahboobeh, Karim Eslami, Najaf Rahmani, five Baluch men named Mohammad Ali Barahouyi Kharkouhi, Reza Barahouyi Kharkouhi, Abdolbaset Totazehi, Abdolnaser Totazehi, Nematollah Totazehi and a Kurdish man named Salah Rahimi were executed for murder and drug-related charges in Yazd Central Prison. Two others were returned to their cells after obtaining extensions in their cases at the last minute.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, eight men and one woman were executed in Yazd Central Prison on 15 December. The woman and a man were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder. The woman has only been identified as Mahboobebh (surname unknown) who was arrested five years ago, and the man has been identified as 32-year-old Karim Eslami, a shepherd arrested for the murder of his fiancé three years ago.
The other seven men were sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court. Their identities have been established as Mohammad Ali Barahouyi Kharkouhi, a 35-year-old Baluch father of three, and his brother Reza Barahouyi Kharkouhi, a 45-year-old Baluch father of four, Abdolbaset Totazehi, a 35-year-old Baluch father of two, Abdolnaser Totazehi, a 38-year-old Baluch father of eight, Nematollah Totazehi, a 35-year-old Baluch father of two, Salah Rahimi, a 40-year-old Kurdish father of three, and 30-year-old Najaf Rahmani.
The nine prisoners were transferred to the gallows with two others who managed to obtain exensions in their murder cases at the last minute and were returned to the cells.
An informed source told IHRNGO: “Salah Rahimi was a car mechanic who was arrested seven years ago. Salah and his family maintained his innocence. Mohammad Ali and Reza Barahouyi Kharkouhi were arrested in a joint case seven years ago. Reza was deprived of medical care and ended up in a wheelchair two years ago. Abdolbaset and Abdolnaser were arrested in a joint case nine years ago”
“These nine prisoners were executed behind Yazd Central Prison’s new yard on Sunday morning. 15 other death row prisoners have also been transferred to Yazd Central Prison from other prisons in Yazd province to be executed in the coming days,” the source added.
At the time of writing, none of their executions have 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.”
Source: IranHR.net