Iran Human Rights (Mar 5, 2018): Five prisoners were executed at Ilam, Hamadan, Kermanshah, and Urmia central prisons on murder charges.
According to a close source, on the morning of Monday, March 5, a prisoner was hanged at Urmia Central Prison on murder charges. The prisoner, identified as Rahim (Abubakr) Salimi, was arrested and sentenced to death 12 years ago. The prisoner was transferred to solitary confinement along with another prisoner from ward 3-4. The second prisoner, identified as Ahmad Kordestani, was able to gain the consent of the plaintiffs and returned to his cell.
According to a report by Kurdistan Human Rights Network, on the morning of Sunday, March 4, a prisoner was executed at Kermanshah Central Prison on the charge of murder. The prisoner who was 26 at the time of the murder was named Masoud Vakili. He wasn't able to meet his family for the last time before he was executed.
Moreover, on Wednesday, January 17, a prisoner was executed at Ilam Central Prison on murder charges, but the state-run media have not announced this execution so far. The prisoner, identified as Ehsan Yaqubi, from Abdanan, was charged with murdering a man named Amin Ayini in 2014.
A well-informed source told Iran Human Rights (IHR), "Ehsan and Amin were both shepherds, and they were friends. They got into a fight during which Ehsan shot and killed Amin."
According to another report, on the morning of Wednesday, March 1, another prisoner was executed at the same prison. The prisoner, identified as Mehdi Kazemnia, son of Ali, was also charged with murder.
A close source told IHR, "Mehdi Kazemnia killed a man from Haft Cheshmeh village during a fight."
According to another report by HRANA, on the morning of Thursday, March 2, a prisoner was hanged at Hamedan Central Prison on murder charges. The prisoner, identified as Hamid Imani, son of Mohammad Ali, was arrested ten years ago.
None of the aforementioned executions was announced by the state-run media so far.
According to Iran Human Rights annual report on the death penalty, 142 prisoners were executed in Iran for murder charges in 2016. There is a lack of any classification of murder by degree in Iran which results in issuing a death sentence for all types of the murder, regardless of intensity and intent.