Execution of Ebrahim Khosheh and 5 Others Related to Murder and Drug Crimes

A source informed Voice of America that the judicial authorities of the Islamic Republic executed a prisoner named Ebrahim Khosheh at the Sepidar prison in Ahvaz early on Monday, March 6. Human rights sources have also reported the execution of five other prisoners. According to reports received by the Persian section of Voice of America, Ebrahim Khosheh, 42, was from the Karimabad region of Behbahan. A source told Voice of America that Ebrahim Khosheh was the father of two daughters aged 18 and 12 and had been detained '10 years ago on murder charges' and had been in prison since then. The source stated that the judicial authorities informed Ebrahim Khosheh's family on Saturday, March 4, that he was on the verge of execution and that 'his sentence would be carried out in the coming days.' Concurrently with the execution of this citizen in Khuzestan province, human rights sources reported the execution of at least five others in the provinces of Isfahan, Khuzestan, Kurdistan, and Zanjan. According to a report from the Human Rights Activists in Iran on Tuesday, the judicial authorities executed a 39-year-old prisoner named Kaveh Asadbigi on Sunday, March 5, in connection with drug-related crimes at the central prison of Zanjan. Additionally, this human rights organization announced that two prisoners named Ahmad Hanafi and Asghar Dehghani were executed on Saturday in connection with drug-related crimes at the Dastgerd prison in Isfahan. The Iran Human Rights Organization also reported that early on Sunday, a prisoner identified as Naim Abdi, 22, who had been detained three years ago on charges of 'murder,' was executed in Qorveh prison. This human rights organization also reported that a prisoner named Babak Hajipour, 49, charged with 'premeditated murder,' was executed on Thursday, March 2, at Sepidar prison in Ahvaz. The execution of these sentences has not yet been announced by official sources or state media. The issuance and execution of death sentences under the title of 'Qisas Nafs' in the Islamic Republic of Iran occurs under conditions where, according to government laws, premeditated murder is not graded, and 'any type of murder, regardless of the severity and motivation of the accused, leads to the issuance of a death sentence.' Furthermore, the execution of prisoners in connection with drug offenses has continuously increased over the past four years, with the Iran Human Rights Organization reporting that the number of executions in the last calendar year rose by 84% to '471 executions.' Despite the fact that the judiciary of the Islamic Republic does not officially announce executions in many cases, evidence collected by independent human rights organizations indicates that the number of executions in Iran shows the highest global ranking for violations of the right to life by the government. According to the campaign 'Tuesdays Against the Death Penalty,' from February 11, 2023, to February 11 of this year, over 1020 individuals have been executed by the judicial authorities of the Islamic Republic in Iran. Mahmoud Amiri Moghaddam, director of the Iran Human Rights Organization, has previously emphasized in an interview with Voice of America that the Islamic Republic uses executions as a 'tool of repression and intimidation' against citizens with the aim of 'creating fear.' He also described the 'Tuesdays Against the Death Penalty' campaign as a 'turning point in the struggles of the Iranian people.'