Hossein Shahrouzi and Baluch Younes Rigi Rakhshani Executed in Shiraz

May 8, 2023, 12:16 p.m.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); May 8, 2023: Hossein Shahrouzi and Younes Rigi Rakhshani, two men sentenced to death for drug-related charges, were executed in Shiraz Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Shiraz Central prison on 8 May. Their identities have been established as 38-year-old Hossein Shahrouzi and Younes Rigi Rakhshani (pictured), a 35-year-old Baluch man. They were sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

Informed sources told Iran Human Rights: “Hossein Shahrouzi was arrested for charges of heroin possession around three years ago. Hossein was working in Asaluyeh for three years and was arrested after returning to Jahrom. Younes was married with five children. He’d been behind bars for drug charges for around three years.”

At the time of writing, their executions have not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Ethnic minorities, the Baluch in particular, are grossly overrepresented in execution numbers in Iran. In 2022, at least 174 Baluch minorities including 3 women, were executed in 22 prisons across Iran, making up 30% of overall executions. This is while they represent just 2-6% of Iran’s population.

Baluch minorities also represented almost half of drug-related executions in 2022. 47.3% of the 256 people executed for drug-related charges were Baluch.

According to reports gathered by Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO), at least 256 people were executed for drug-related offences in 2022, a more than two-fold increase compared to 2021 (126) and ten times more than 2020 (25).