Iran: Two Prisoners Hanged In Public

According to a report by the state-run Jam News, on the morning of Wednesday December 13, two prisoners were hanged in public in Khorasegan Square in Isfahan. The two prisoners were arrested and sentenced to death on the charge of murdering a police officer in Nain on April 9, 2016.

One of them, identified as Abdolmajid Hassanzehi, was transferred to solitary confinement of Isfahan Central Prison on Monday December 11. The news was previously published by Iran Human Rights (IHR).

The report also mentioned that “police officers arrested five of the Death Dealers and found 527 kilograms of drugs.”

“Five people, trafficking 50 kilograms of opium, get into a fight with police officers in Nain and one of the officers, named Qazavi, gets killed. Abdolmajid was not armed but the other defendants claimed otherwise and that’s why he was sentenced to death,” said a close source to Iran Human Rights (IHR).

The other prisoner, who was executed, has not been identified yet.

According to Iran Human Rights annual report on the death penalty 33 people have been executed in public in front of large crowds including children in 2016. Public executions have been strongly criticized by Iranian human rights activists and sociologists.