New wave of executions in Iran

Habibullah Afshari, 26 and his brother Ali Afshari, 34, had been sentenced to death for supporting an Iranian Kurdish opposition group.

According to reports, at least 30 prisoners have been executed in prisons across the country in just four days. Some of them were executed in groups. On Tuesday, a group of six people were hanged in the Gohrdasht prison of Karaj. Among them were three men, who have been identified as Vahid Lalabadi, Ayob Farahadi and Amir Davoodi. They had been transferred to isolation prior to hangings. One more prisoner was hanged in Shiraz on the same day.

At least 14 prisoners were executed in the cities of Bam, Uromiyeh and Bandar Abbas on Monday. Six prisoners were hanged in the southern city of Bam, two were hanged in Mashhad, one in Bandar Abbas and another five were executed in the Darya prison of Uromiyeh, which included three men from Kurdistan province and two residents of the Azerbaijan province. One of the victims has been identified as Rahim Soleimani – a 60 years old man who had been imprisoned since 20 years before being sent to the gallows.

On Sunday, a group of four prisoners, who are yet to be identified, were hanged in Adelabad prison, in Shiraz. Two more men, identified as Asghar Shabani and Mehrdad Arbshirin, were executed in Shahab Prison, in Kerman. The fate of Mr Arbshirin’s wife, who was sentenced along with her husband, remains unknown. On Saturday, two Balochi men, identified as Hamed Kahrazhi and Mobasher Mir-Balochzehi, were executed in Chahbahar prison. Another person who is yet to be identified was hanged in the northern city of Rasht.

This disturbing wave of executions is aimed at instilling fear within the population that has been facing repression at the hands of the Iranian regime since Ayatollah Khomeini usurped power in 1979.

Since July 2013 when he entered the office, no less than 1,200 people have been hanged.

IranFocus