Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); August 14, 2024: Reza Zardkouhi and Mousa-alreza Ebrahimi were executed for drug-related charges in Sabzevar Prison.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Sabzevar Prison on 14 August. Their identities have been established as 31-year-old Reza Zardkouhi and 25-year-old Mousa-alreza Ebrahimi who were both sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.
An informed source told IHRNGO: “Reza Zardkouhi was from Davarzan and arrested around four years ago. Mousa-alreza Ebrahimi was from Sabzevar and on death row for three years.”
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.”