Kurdistan Human Rights Network

Moein Salavarzizadeh, a 58-year-old man from the village of Haft Cheshmeh in Abdanan, Ilam Province, was executed today in Ilam Central Prison after spending 32 years behind bars for "premeditated murder". The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that Salavarzizadeh was arrested in 1991 for the "premeditated murder" of his brother and subsequently sentenced to death by the Criminal Court One of Ilam Province,...

The authorities today executed prisoner Ali Rajabian in Karaj Central Penitentiary in Alborz Province for drug-related offences. Rajabian, who was imprisoned for drug trafficking, was transferred to solitary confinement for execution on 28 January. The 50-year-old man, from Kuhdasht in Lorestan Province was arrested about four years ago and sentenced to death on drug-related charges. *Further clarification: Sources close to Rajabian's family had stated that he was...

Authorities at Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj, Alborz Province, executed prisoner Mohammad Reza Ghorbani on 28 January on drug-related charges. Ghorbani was transferred to solitary confinement for execution on 27 January along with another prisoner, Hossein Havasi. Havasi was returned to the general ward several hours later, but Ghorbani was executed the following morning. Ghorbani, from Abdanan in Ilam Province, was arrested about five years ago on...

Kurdish political prisoners Pezhman Fatehi, Mohsen Mazloum, Mohammad Faramarzi and Vafa Azarbar were executed today in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj, Alborz Province. Their bodies have not yet been released to their families. In December 2023, the four individuals were sentenced to death on charges of "spying for Israel" by Branch 26 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran and the verdict was later upheld...

The Supreme Court's Branch 39 has upheld the death sentence for Yousef Ahmadi, a 38-year-old Kurdish political prisoner, charged with "armed insurrection" (baghi) for being a member of a Kurdish opposition party and "involvement in the murder of two members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)". The Kurdish political prisoner, from Baneh in Kurdistan Province, now faces imminent execution following the court's confirmation. Ahmadi was...

Kurdish prisoners of conscience Anvar Khezri, Kamran Sheikheh and Khosrow Besharat face imminent execution in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj, Alborz Province, following the execution of four of their co-defendants in recent months on charges of "spreading corruption on earth" (efsad-e fel arz). The three death row prisoners who have been imprisoned for 14 years, have been on hunger strike since 3 January following the...

Farhad Salimi, a 43-year-old Sunni Kurdish cleric and prisoner of conscience, was transferred to solitary confinement for execution in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj, Alborz Province, on 21 January. Salimi, who has spent 14 years in prison, was transferred to solitary confinement following the recent executions of three of his co-defendants, Ghassem Abasteh, Ayoub Karimi and Davoud Abdollahi, in Ghezel Hesar prison on 5 November,...

Death row prisoner Jalil Soleymani was executed by the authorities in Hamadan Central Prison on 17 January on drug-related charges. He was transferred to solitary confinement for the execution on 14 January. Soleymani, from Kangavar in Kermanshah Province and a resident of Tuyserkan in Hamadan Province, was arrested about three years ago on drug trafficking charges.

The authorities at Ilam Central Prison executed prisoner Mohsen Mehri for "premeditated murder" on 16 January. The prisoner had been arrested and sentenced to death about five years ago for the "premeditated murder" of his brother over a financial dispute, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned. Mehri was sentenced to death under the Islamic law of qisas, or retribution-in-kind, which gives the victim’s family...