Four Defendants in the 'Poisonous Alcohol' Case Executed in Karaj

The Iranian judiciary announced that the death sentences for four main defendants in the 'poisoning incidents caused by consuming alcoholic beverages in Alborz province' were carried out at the central prison in Karaj. The judiciary's media center reported on Wednesday, November 2, that these four individuals were sentenced to death for 'corruption on earth through crimes against the physical integrity of individuals.' The center stated that these individuals were involved in the sale of cosmetics, hygiene products, and medical equipment in Karaj and were supplying 'methanol' instead of 'ethanol' for hygiene purposes. According to the Islamic Republic's judiciary, these individuals 'provided a fake analysis report indicating that the alcohol was ethanol' to deceive buyers. The death sentences were issued for four individuals due to the distribution of 'deadly alcoholic beverages.' 'Ethanol' is the main ingredient in consumable alcoholic beverages, while 'methanol,' which has a similar smell and appearance to 'ethanol,' is toxic to humans, and drinking it can lead to kidney failure, loss of vision, and even death. In this context, the distribution of 'poisonous alcoholic beverages' last June resulted in the deaths of 17 people and the poisoning of 191 others in Alborz province. A year later, the Chief Justice of Alborz province announced that 11 people were arrested in this case, stating: 'Death sentences were issued for four of them, and other sentences were issued for seven others based on the nature of their crimes, resulting in varying years of imprisonment.' In June and July 2023, reports of poisoning from homemade alcoholic beverages emerged in Alborz, West Azerbaijan, Hormozgan, Tehran, Mazandaran, Qazvin, and Gilan provinces within less than two weeks. The number of victims of 'fake alcoholic beverages' in Gilan increased to 18. Given the prohibition on the production and sale of alcoholic beverages in Iran and the lack of healthy and standard products in the market over the past decades, many citizens are forced to consume various non-standard types of these beverages. Occasionally, news related to deaths and poisonings, loss of vision, and kidney failure among consumers of these non-standard products makes headlines. In one of the latest cases, the head of Gilan University of Medical Sciences announced on October 15 this year that '66 patients with severe poisoning symptoms due to consuming industrial ethanol alcoholic beverages have been admitted to medical centers in Rasht, of which 18 have died.' There are no accurate statistics on the exact consumption of non-standard alcoholic beverages in Iran, and various officials have repeatedly provided differing statistics on this issue.