Six Men Executed for Drug Offences in Shiraz

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, four men were executed in Shiraz Central Prison on October 2. Their identities have been established as Hashem Mahmoudzadeh, Yousef Ali-Chalani, Abbas Fathalian and Heydar Ramezani. They were all sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

An informed source told Iran Human Rights: “Hashem Mahmoudzadeh was arrested for carrying drugs four years ago and sentenced to death. Yousef Ali-Chalani was from Kazeroun and also on death row for drugs. Abbas Fathalian was from Shiraz and had been behind bars.”

The next day, two other men were executed at the prison for drug-related charges. Their identities have not been established at the time of writing.

At the time of writing, none of their executions have 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. This trend has continued into 2022, with 91 executions recorded in the first six months of 2022, double the number for the same period in 2021 when 40 people were executed.

At least 251 including 6 women and 67 Baluch minorities were executed in the first six months of 2022. This is double the number of executions in the same period in 2021 when 117 people were executed.