3 Men Executed in Shiraz

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, three men were executed in Shiraz (Adel Abad) Central Prison on 28th November. One of the men who was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder, has been identified as 34-year-old Amin Maleki (photo) from Safa Shahr in Shiraz. He was arrested four years ago and transferred to the gallows form Ward 11 of the prison.

The other two men have been identified as Mehdi Shirvani and Fardin Abdollahi. They were arrested two years ago and sentenced to death for drug-related offences in the same case. The two men were transferred from Pirbanu Prison to Shiraz Central Prison for execution.

At the time of writing, their executions have 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.”