Baluch Davoud Rakjan Executed for Drug Charges in Birjand

According to Hal Vash, a Baluch man was executed in Arak Central Prison on February 21. His identity has been reported as 44-year-old Davoud Rakjan (known as Nabi Kharkouhi) who was sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

Davoud Rakjan was married with children and had been behind bars for 3 years.

At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

On January 27, Iran Human Rights warned of the high number of drug executions currently being carried out in Iran. Of the 66 executions carried out in January, at least 43 (65%) people were executed for drug-related charges, none of which were officially announced.

Drug executions dramatically dropped between 2018-2020 following the Amendment to the Anti-Drug Laws in 2017. However, this reversed in practice in 2021 when numbers increased by five-fold and have continued to rise throughout 2022 and 2023.