Afghan National Motiollah Barkezi Executed in Ghaen

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, an Afghan man was executed in Ghaen Prison in South Khorasan province on 24 July. His identity has been established as Motiollah Barkezi, a 40-year-old father to two children from the border village of Mahi Roud.

Per informed IHRNGO sources, Motiollah was arrested at the entrance of Ghaen city four and a half years ago and sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

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

Drug-related executions have continuously risen every year since 2021. According to IHRNGO’s 2023 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 471 people were executed for drug-related charges, an 84% increase compared to 2022 (256) and about 18 times the average of drug-related executions in 2018-2020. In the first six months of 2024, at least 147 people were executed for the charges.

On 10 April 2024, 80+ Iranian and international organisations and groups called for joint action to stop drug-related executions, urging UNODC to make “any cooperation with the Islamic Republic contingent on a complete halt on drug-related executions.”