Human Rights Sources Report Execution of Three Prisoners in Iran

On Tuesday, October 2, human rights sources reported the execution of three prisoners in Iran on drug-related charges. According to these sources, the death sentences of Dashtger Sasouli, Rashid Sepahi, and Nasser Jamshidi were carried out in the prisons of Semnan and Saravan. As reported by the news agency 'Hrana', an organ of human rights activists in Iran, Dashtger Sasouli, 46 years old, married and a father of three, was from and residing in Zahak County, while Rashid Sepahi, 33 years old, was from Jaleq and residing in the Bakhshan district of Saravan. Hrana reported that Dashtger Sasouli was arrested in 2019 in Semnan and Rashid Sepahi in 2020 in Saravan on drug-related charges, and subsequently sentenced to death by the judicial authorities of the Islamic Republic. Nasser Jamshidi, whose surname is also reported as 'Jamshidpour' by the Iran Human Rights Organization, had been arrested three years ago on charges of drug possession in Semnan and sentenced to death. As of the time of this report, the executions of these prisoners had not been announced by prison officials or relevant authorities. According to annual statistics from the Center for Statistics, Publication, and Works of Human Rights Activists in Iran for the year 1402, at least 767 citizens, including 21 women and two child offenders, were executed in Iran. Of these, the sentences of seven individuals were carried out in public. Additionally, during this period, 172 others were sentenced to death, with five sentenced to public execution. According to Hrana, during the same period, the preliminary sentences of another 49 individuals were confirmed by the Supreme Court. The 36th week of the 'Tuesdays Against Execution' campaign of protesting prisoners in 22 prisons across the country announced in a statement on October 2 that more than 23 individuals had been executed in just the first ten days of October. This campaign's recent statement mentioned that in a 'medieval act,' two individuals were executed in public in Khomein on October 1. Furthermore, from September 15 to October 4, during a ten-day period, 20 individuals were executed in Shiraz prison, but this statistic was not reported by any domestic media. The prisoners involved in this campaign reminded that the government resorts to increasing executions to hide its weaknesses amid escalating international crises. The statement warned that given the country's critical conditions, the likelihood of increased executions in the coming weeks exists. The protesting prisoners against the death penalty in 22 prisons expressed their concerns regarding the status of those sentenced to death, emphasizing that 'they are the first subjects to compensate for the failures and incapacities of the ruling religious tyranny in our homeland.' The prisoners involved in this campaign invited all independent and free human rights activists, both domestic and international, to 'be the voice of death row prisoners so that they are not executed in media silence.' This report utilized information from Hrana, the Iran Human Rights Organization, and Voice of America.