Behzad Adl Executed 3 Times for Rape After Confessing Under Torture

According to Iran Human Rights, a 25 year old man was executed in Shiraz Central Prison on May 15. His identity has been established as Behzad Adl, who was handed three death sentences on charges of “adultery by force reluctance.”

Behzad Adl was arrested on 21 June 2020. Speaking to IHR, an informed source said: “Behzad Adl’s confession was extracted under torture by electrically shocking him several times and beating him up, he had denied all the charges in court.”

He was sentenced to three years imprisonment and two years in exile on the charge of “making obscene videos” on Instagram, five years imprisonment and seven years of “social deprivation” on the charge of “kidnapping” and three death sentences on the charge of “adultery by force and reluctance” by Branch 101 of the Shiraz Criminal Court presided over by Judge Asghar Rahimi. It was upheld by the Supreme Court within 18 days.

“Behzad’s charge of kidnapping was reduced to “kidnapping by deception” by the court and two of the plaintiff’s in the case had announced that they were willing to grant forgiveness prior to his execution. But they still pulled up Behzad on that noose three times and his body was left hanging for two hours. The family still don’t have his body, they are scheduled to pick it up tomorrow and take it to their hometown of Isfahan,” the informed source further told IHR.

His family were able to visit him for the last time on Friday. At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

In cases of rape, there is a high chance of defendants being tortured to make false confessions, which is used to issue death sentences. In Iran is one of the few countries in the world that issues the death penalty for rape. A lot of cases are also rushed without the defendants having access to a lawyer.