Prisoner Executed in Yazd

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Prisoner Sami Mohtarami, 43, was executed in Ardakan Prison on the morning of Saturday, November 3, 2018.

An informed source confirmed the news of his death to HRANA. “The victim’s family had agreed to absolve him if he could pay the blood money, but he wasn’t able to,” the source said. “He was transferred to solitary confinement on Thursday, November 1, 2018, two nights before his execution.”

Convicted of murdering someone while stealing a car, Mohtarami had been detained in Ardakan Prison since 2015. He previously served a five-year sentence in Ardakan on drug-related charges.

According to Amnesty International’s annual report, Iran ranks first in the world in executions per capita. On the World Day against the Death Penalty (October 10th), the Center of Statistics at Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRAI) published its annual report, indicating that at least 256 citizens were executed in Iran between October 10, 2017, and October 9, 2018, 15 of which were public hangings. Sixty-eight percent of executions, referred to as “secret executions,” are not announced by the state or Judiciary.

Ardakan is located in the central district of Ardakan County, Yazd Province