Shahrokh Fahimi Executed in Neishabur

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Neishabur Prison in Khorasan Razavi province on 12 December. His identity has been established as 23-year-old Shahrokh Fahimi who was sentenced to death for drug-related offences by the Revolutionary Court.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Shahrokh Fahimi was arrested three years ago, when he was 20, for keeping drugs in his perfume shop.”

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

A woman on death row for murder charges who was at the gallows with Shahrokh managed to obtain a last minute extension in her case and was returned to her cell.

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.”