Iran Executions: Man Hanged in Hamadan

According to ISNA, on the morning of Wednesday, April 18, Bahman Varmezyar who was sentenced to death on the charge of Moharebeh through armed robbery, were executed at Hamedan Central Prison.

The Prosecutor of Hamedan, Kamran Hamzeh, announced the execution of Bahman Varmezyar and Mehdi Cheraghi saying, “Yesterday (Tuesday) - April 17- Bahman Varmezyar’s execution was halted due to a judicial matter.”

He also noted, “After the issue was resolved, the execution of Bahman Varmezyar and Mehdi Cheraghi was carried out today (Wednesday)-April 18.”

Bahman Varmezyar and Mehdi Cheraghi were scheduled to be executed at Hamedan Central Prison at 6:30 on the morning of Tuesday, April 17. However, the night before, a video of Bahman Varmezyar’s mother was posted on the social media indicating that his execution was stopped. The prisoner’s mother thanked Iran’s supreme leader and the head of the Judiciary in the video and some Iranian media also reported the direct order of the Supreme Leader to stop the execution.

Earlier, it seemed like the execution was stopped because of the video of the prisoner’s mother which was widely viewed and reacted to by some celebrities and the general public.

It should be noted that Mehdi Cheraghi’s execution has not been announced by the state-run media so far, however, one of Bahman Varmezyar’s relatives approved the execution of both defendants in his interview with IHR.

UPDATE:

On the early version on the news piece, execution of death row prisoner Mehdi Cheraghi, Bahman's codefendant, was also reported. Mehdi Cheraghi was not executed on April 18, 2018. Therefore, his name has been removed from this article.