Four Prisoners Executed in Ghezel Hesar Prison
15-August-2024
Category: executions
August 14, 2024
News Category: Execution
Breathing in Confinement: At dawn on Wednesday, August 14, 2024, four prisoners were hanged in Ghezel Hesar Prison on charges related to “drug offenses.”
According to Breathing in Confinement:, the news outlet of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, the identities of the prisoners have been confirmed as Saeed Niazi, Naser Sharifi, and Behrouz Vafaei. The identity of the fourth prisoner, who was an Afghan national, is still under investigation.
According to reports received by Breathing in Confinement:, Saeed Niazi, 30, from Borujerd, was executed along with three other prisoners from Unit 3 of Ghezel Hesar Prison. Niazi had been arrested four years ago on charges related to “drug offenses” and sentenced to death. On Monday, August 12, Saeed Niazi, along with the other three prisoners, was transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for the execution.
Saeed Niazi, Behrouz Vafaei, and the Afghan national were sentenced to death on charges related to drug offenses, while Naser Sharifi, a Kurdish prisoner, was sentenced to death for murder.
As of the time of this report, the execution of these prisoners has not been announced by official sources.
According to the Statistics Center of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, at least 100 prisoners have been executed in various prisons over the past month. The Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, warning of a new and increasing wave of executions amid tensions with Israel, calls on international authorities to take decisive action to prevent further executions.
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.