Executions of Karim Farokhvand and Mahmoud Ostadmamzayi Carried Out Despite Victims’ Families Having Pardoned Them
1-May-2025
Category: executions
May 1, 2025
News Group: Executions
Breathing in Confinement – At dawn on Thursday, May 1, 2025, the death sentences of at least two prisoners convicted of “enmity against God (moharebeh)” through armed robbery were carried out in Dezful Prison.
According to Breathing in Confinement, the news outlet of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, the two prisoners, Karim Farokhvand and Mahmoud Ostadmamzayi, were executed by hanging early Thursday morning in Dezful Prison.
Both individuals, members of the Bakhtiari ethnic community from Dezful, had been arrested seven years ago on charges of moharebeh related to an armed robbery. At the time of the alleged offence, both were under 18 and therefore considered juvenile offenders under international law.
The plaintiffs had previously declared their forgiveness and formally pardoned the two men. Despite this, the authorities proceeded with the executions.
On Tuesday, a large crowd of local residents and members of the Bakhtiari community gathered outside the Dezful governor’s office demanding a halt to the executions. Later that night and into early Wednesday morning, dozens of people assembled in front of Dezful Prison in protest, decrying the planned executions despite the plaintiffs having granted clemency.
Karim Farokhvand and Mahmoud Ostadmamzayi were transferred to solitary confinement on Monday, April 28, 2025, in preparation for execution. At midnight on Tuesday, their families, joined by many locals, held a final protest outside the prison calling for the sentences to be halted.
Nevertheless, their death sentences were carried out at dawn on Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Dezful Prison.
As of the time of this report, the execution of these prisoners has not been announced by official resources.
Annual Report on Executions in Iran
According to the annual report by the Statistics Centre of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, at least 1,170 individuals were executed in Iran in 2024. Among them, six people were executed in public, and the executed also included 38 women and 9 juvenile offenders.