At Least Five Prisoners Executed in Ghezel Hesar Prison, Karaj
23-October-2024
Category: executions
October 23, 2024
News Category: Execution
Breathing in Confinement: At dawn on Wednesday, October 23, 2024, the death sentences of at least five prisoners convicted of drug-related charges and murder were carried out in Ghezel Hesar Prison, Karaj.
According to Breathing in Confinement, the news agency of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, five prisoners were executed at dawn on Wednesday, October 23, 2024, in Ghezel Hesar Prison. The identities of these prisoners, Mohammad Koushki and Babakhan Jafari (convicted of drug-related charges), and Arman Naserzadeh (convicted of murder), have been confirmed by Breathing in Confinement. The identities of the fourth prisoner, convicted of murder, and the fifth prisoner, an Afghan national convicted of rape, are still under investigation.
According to a report from Breathing in Confinement, Mohammad Koushki, a resident of Kouhdasht, and Babakhan Jafari, a resident of Delfan, Khorramabad, had previously been arrested on drug-related charges and sentenced to death. Additionally, according to a report by Rokna, there had been multiple instances of conflicts and disputes between Arman Naserzadeh and the victim, Akbar R., who were old acquaintances. Despite Arman filing complaints against the victim, the conflict escalated, and Arman ultimately killed him. Following the incident, Arman surrendered to the police and was eventually tried for murder and sentenced to death.
During the legal proceedings, many efforts were made by various individuals and relevant bodies to seek pardon from the victim’s family. These efforts continued even until the last moments before the execution, but the family of Akbar R., after 10 years of Arman’s imprisonment, did not agree to pardon him, leading to the execution being carried out.
According to the annual report of the Statistics Center of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, at least 848 citizens were executed in 2023. Of these, 7 were executed in public. 57 percent of the executions were for drug related charges.