Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); May 22, 2022: Esmail Shahbakhsh, a Baluch man sentenced to death for drug offences, was executed in Zahedan Central Prison.
According to Hal Vash, a Baluch man was executed in Zahedan Central Prison on the morning of May 21. His identity has been reported as 50-year-old Esmail Shahbakhsh who was sentenced to death for drug-related charges.
Esmail Shahbakhsh was arrested for the drug charges in 2019 and sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court. He had denied all the charges against him in court.
At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.
According to reports compiled by Iran Human Rights, at least 126 people were executed on drug-related charges in 2021, a fivefold increase compared to drug executions in the previous three years. None of the 2021 drug-related executions were reported by official sources. Data gathered by Iran Human Rights also shows that Baluch prisoners accounted for 21% of all executions in 2021, while only representing 2–6% of Iran’s population.