Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj: At least seven prisoners accused of murder have been executed

Human Rights in Iran – Today, Wednesday, April 24, 2020, the death sentences of at least seven prisoners accused of murder in Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj were carried out. The men had been transferred to solitary confinement in the past few days to serve their death sentences. 

Mohsen Rezaian, Alireza Ariaei, Hamidreza Asgharpour Masouleh, Mostafa Ghiyasvand, Mehdi Asemi, and Anna Dordi Babaei and another prisoner with an unknown identity, according to the report of Human Rights in Iran, this morning, Wednesday, April 24, 2020, were executed on the charge of committing murder. The death sentences were confirmed by the Supreme Court. Among those executed, Mohsen Rezaian had already lost an arm and a leg. 

Among those executed was Anna Dordi Babaei, who served 28 years in prison from 1992 until the execution date.

An informed source also said: “Mohsen Rezaian had lost one arm and one leg before being arrested due to an electric shock.” 

The source added: “Hamid Reza Asgharpour Masouleh was sentenced to death by swearing-in. He was charged with the murder of his wife, although murdering at first is in doubt itself. Iran Legal Medicine had at first commented on the natural death of his wife and said that the bruises on the body of the deceased were due to an attempt to resuscitate the emergency team. But later they changed their minds. The court also sentenced him to death by swearing-in.” 

In the early hours of Sunday morning, April 21, 2020, Mostafa Ghiasvand, Mohsen Rezaian, Alireza Ariaei, Hamidreza Asgharpour Masouleh, Behrouz Hajizadeh, and the prisoners accused of murder were transferred to solitary confinement to serve their sentences in Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj. Along with these people, 5 other prisoners with unknown identities were transferred to solitary confinement. 

On December 15, 2019, Human Rights in Iran released a report on the transfer of 32-year-old Mohsen Rezaeian, accused of murder, from solitary confinement in prison ward 1 of hall 2 to solitary confinement for execution. This prisoner has been in prison since 2016, and once, after being transferred to solitary confinement, he managed to get some time in order to obtain the consent of the victim’s guardian from the authorities. 

according to Amnesty International’s annual report, in 2019, the Iranian government executed at least 251 people, and at least four of those executed were under the age of 18 at the time of committing the crime. However, due to the lack of transparency of the authorities, it is difficult to find out the actual number of executions in this country and it may be much higher than the announced figure.

According to international human rights instruments, as well as article 5 of the UDHR, no one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honor and reputation. 

According to statistics released by human rights organizations, Iran is one of the countries with the highest number of executions per capita and after China the highest number of executions are in Iran. 

On February 18, 2020, Amnesty International released a report describing human rights abuses in Iran, in which issued a report on the issuance and enforcement of death sentences: “International human rights law allows acts involving same-sex sexual intercourse with reciprocal consent and extramarital sex; Spreading corruption on earth, insulting Mohammed the prophet and fighting against Islamic State are crime titles punishment of which is execution and hanging while there is no vague definition for them, yet.”