Iran: Prisoner Executed in Gorgan

According to the HRANA news agency, a man was executed in Gorgan Central Prison on the morning of Wednesday, July 9th. The identity of the prisoner has been established as Baset Seyedi, 43, from Bandar Torkaman.

He was a father of three and was said to have displayed symptoms of COVID-19 a few days before his execution.

Baset Seyedi had been arrested in 2014 for "murder during a betting dispute in a village around Bandar Torkaman" and consequently sentenced to death. 

At the time of publication, the execution of this prisoner has not been announced by local media or officials.

According to Iran Human Rights’ annual report, at least 225 of the 280 of those executed in 2019 were charged with "premeditated murder."

As there are no legal distinctions made between murder and manslaughter, whether voluntary or involuntary in Iran, those charged under the umbrella term of “premeditated murder” will receive the death penalty regardless of intent (mens rea) and the circumstances.