Ali Feizi and Rahmat Bigham Executed in Zanjan

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Zanjan Central Prison on 7 February. Their identities have been established as 35-year-old Ali Feizi and Rahmat Bigham who were sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

Ali was arrested three years ago and Rahmat was arrested two years ago.

At the time of writing, their executions have not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Three other men are reported to have been executed at the prison on 30 January. IHRNGO has been unable to confirm their executions at the time of writing and continues to investigate                    

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.