At least 8 prisoners executed in Iran; letter from dozens of lawyers condemns repression of protesters

Human rights sources have reported the execution of several prisoners in Rajai Shahr, Qarchak, Zahedan, and Mashhad prisons in recent days.

The Iranian Human Rights Organization reported on Thursday, June 25, that the judicial authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran executed eight prisoners in Rajai Shahr Prison in Alborz Province on Wednesday morning.

The Iranian Human Rights Organization has announced the identities of six of these individuals: "Ramin Arab, Abbas Bitarfan, Gholamhossein Zeinali, Ali Nosrati, Ali Montazeri, and Vahid Mianabadi."

The Iranian Human Rights Activists' News Agency, HRANA, however, reported in its report that 10 people had been executed. HRANA declared the charges against "Abbas Bitarfan, Ali Nosrati, and Gholam Hossein Zeinali" as "murder" and the charges against "Ramin Arab" as "moharebeh".

The HRANA report mentions the execution of a prisoner named "Abdullah Brahui" on drug-related charges on April 21 in Zahedan Central Prison.

Also, according to IRNA news agency on June 24, the Tehran Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor announced the execution of a prisoner with the initials "R. A." on charges of "committing war through armed robbery," who appears to be "Ramin Arab."

In addition, according to the Rokna News Agency, on June 1, 2019, a 29-year-old prisoner, Elias Q., was executed in Mashhad Prison on charges of "murder."

Arash Sadeghi, a human rights defender in Iran, has also announced the execution of a woman named Maryam Mollasaidi in Qarchak Prison, Varamin.

According to Mr. Sadeghi, Ms. Molla Saeidi was executed "on charges of murder" and prison authorities had taken another woman named "Sanabor Jalali" to solitary confinement with her to carry out the death sentence, but she has now been returned to the ward.

The executions of these prisoners coincided with widespread protests in some parts of Iran. According to Bahreini, a researcher at Amnesty International, the Islamic Republic uses the death penalty as a tool of suffocation and repression.

At the same time, according to the Emtaed website, 85 lawyers have condemned the violent suppression of protesters by security forces, calling it "violent, criminal, and against all standards" and based on an "illegal decree," and have called for "respect for the dignity, human rights, and citizenship of all protesters."

Among the signatories of the statement by these lawyers are the names of people such as Giti Pourfazel, Payam Darfashan, Amir Raisian, Arash Kaykhosravi, and Mohammad Seifzadeh.

Last year, the Islamic Republic of Iran once again ranked second in the world after China, carrying out at least 314 executions, accounting for 54 percent of all recorded executions in the world.

This figure is the highest recorded in Iran since 2017 and accounts for 60 percent of all executions in the Middle East.

Source: Voice of America