3 Men Executed in Karaj; Man Died of Heart Attack Prior to Execution

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, three men were executed in Ghezelhesar Prison on 17 January. Two of the men have been identified as Iman Shabani and Bahman Fathollahzadeh. The third man who was an Afghan national, has not been identified at the time of writing. All three men were sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

IHRNGO previously reported the execution of another prisoner named Keramat Jan Nazarkhani for murder at the prison that day. This brings the number of executions to four that day.

The four men were transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for their executions in a group five on 16 January. Khasmorad Saeedi Geravand, the fifth prisoner, was also on death row for drug-related charges.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Khasmorad Saeedi Geravand had a heart attack when they told him he was being transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for his execution. They didn’t take him to the hospital, he passed away in the prison infirmary at 4:30pm.”

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 for the past three years. At least 305 people were executed for drug-related charges between 1 January-10 October 2023, a 69% increase compared to the same period in 2022, and the number of drug-related executions in 2023 were close to 20 times higher than 2020.

The number of drug executions dramatically dropped in 2018 following a 2017 Amendment to the Anti-Narcotics Laws. Consequently, drug executions ranged between 24-30 per annum between 2018-2020. The Amendment was reversed in practice in 2021 when executions increased ten-fold to 126 in 2021 and doubled again in 2022 with 256 drug-related executions. On 13 September 2023, IHRNGO reported a 94% rise in the number of drug-related executions in the year following the start of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement in September 2022.