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Iran Human Rights (IHR) – Three prisoners named Eskandar Zare, Sepehr Abbasnejad and Hamzeh Rezaei who were on death row for drug-related charges, have been executed in Urmia Central Prison. At least 58 people have now been executed on drug charges in 2021.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, three men were transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for their executions from Ward 4 of Urmia Central Prison on August 1 and executed in the early hours of this morning. Their identities have been established as Eskandar Zare, Sepehr Abbasnejad and Hamzeh Rezaei, who were all sentenced to death on drug-related charges.
At the time of writing, none of their executions have not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.
According to Iran Human Rights’ Annual Report on the Death Penalty in Iran, at least 25 people were executed on drug-related charges in 2020. However, at least 58 people, more than double, have so far been executed on the same charge in 2021.
On May 3, IHR published a report on the death penalty in the first four months of 2021 expressing concern at the significant increase in the number of drug-related executions and continues to warn of the continuation of this trend.
