Execution of 'Davood Barahoui' and 'Mahdi Aliakbari' in Qazalhasar Prison; Despite 'First Criminal Record' for Drug Offenses

The death sentences of two prisoners, who had previously been sentenced to death despite having their first criminal record related to drug offenses, were carried out early Sunday morning, July 31, at Qazalhasar Prison in Karaj. According to Halosh, one of the executed citizens was 47-year-old Davood Barahoui, married with seven children and residing in Zahedan. The other citizen, 49-year-old Mahdi Aliakbari, was also married with two children and lived in Tehran. According to informed sources, Davood was arrested in 2018 and Mahdi in 2021 in Tehran, and both were sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court. On Saturday, July 30, Davood Barahoui was transferred from the second unit of hall number two, and Mahdi Aliakbari from the second unit of hall number one of Qazalhasar Prison to quarantine. According to these sources, Davood's execution was carried out without a final meeting with his family. The execution of these two individuals took place together at Qazalhasar Prison. Halosh emphasized that these two executed prisoners had 'first criminal records and were sentenced to death without consideration of that.' In this context, the website HRANA reported that four prisoners had their death sentences executed today at Qazalhasar Prison in Karaj. HRANA identified the third person as 'Saeed Mohammadpour' and stated that the fourth was a citizen of Afghanistan whose identity is still unknown. Previously, according to a statement from the 'No to Executions on Tuesdays' campaign, a copy of which was provided to VOA, on Tuesday, July 26, protesting prisoners in 11 prisons in Iran went on hunger strike 'to oppose the death penalty and draw public attention to the inhumane issue of capital punishment.' Additionally, Nahid Naraghi, a research supervisor at the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch, stated on Friday, July 22, that Masoud Pezeshkian, the head of the fourteenth government of the Islamic Republic, 'must confront the gross violations of human rights, including the alarming number of executions, systematic pressure on women, and the ruthless suppression of ethnic and religious minorities.' The application of the death penalty for drug-related offenses has always been criticized by the UN and human rights organizations, and over the past two decades, the Islamic Republic has been repeatedly urged to change its penal laws related to drug offenses.