Shabtabnews In this dark night, I have lost my way – Arise from a corner, oh you the star of guidance.
Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – Abdollah Ozbekzehi, Khalilollah Barahouyi and Fariba Mohammadzehi were executed for drug-related charges in Kerman Central Prison.
According to HRANA news agency, two men and a woman were executed in Kerman Central Prison on 8 May. Their identities have been reported as 33-year-old Fariba Mohammadzehi, Abdollah Ozbekzehi and Khalilollah Barahouyi. They were sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court. They were all Baluch minorities.
At the time of writing, their executions have not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.
Drug-related executions have continuously risen every year since 2021. According to IHRNGO’s 2023 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 471 people were executed for drug-related charges, an 84% increase compared to 2022 (256) and about 18 times the average of drug-related executions in 2018-2020.
On 10 April 2024, 80+ Iranian and international organisations and groups called for joint action to stop drug-related executions, urging UNODC to make “any cooperation with the Islamic Republic contingent on a complete halt on drug-related executions.”
