The Iranian regime’s authorities sent 11 inmates to the gallows in the span of three days (December 12 to 15) in the prisons of Maragheh, Karaj and Bandar Abbas, all across Iran. In the morning of December 15 at least five prisoners in Karaj Central Prison (west of Tehran) and one in Bandar Abbas Central Prison (southern Iran) were hanged. The day before three Iranian Baluchis were hanged in Bandar Abbas Central Prison and another inmate was hanged in Ghezel Hesar Prison of Karaj after enduring 23 years behind bars. On December 12 an Iranian Kurd was hanged in Maragheh Prison (northwest Iran).
In the meantime, Mohammad Javad Larijani, secretary of the Iranian regime’s so-called “High Council for Human Rights” has been recently making a lot of noise over the necessity of decreasing the number of executions in Iran, all to deceive the international community.
“The foundations of jurisprudence says those charged for drug crimes are considered corrupt individuals and their sentence is death… the Guardian Council has rejected the parliament’s recent bill to cancel executions for those convicted of drug crimes, and this ruling went to the Expediency Council, where this subject was further confirmed… more than 90% of our executions are related to drug offenses.” (State-run Mizan news agency – December 11, 2016)
These remarks are made at a time when regime officials have in the past few weeks alone launched a widespread propaganda campaign on decreasing death sentences, all aimed at influencing a United Nations General Assembly resolution on human rights violations in Iran. This includes Pour-Mohammadi, the justice minister of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s cabinet, and a member of the notorious ‘Death Commission’ during the summer 1988 massacre. “The number and the reason for executions must be reviewed,” he said. (State-run ILNA news agency – October 29, 2016)
“We have been witnessing a large number of executions related to drug charges under existing laws. We are involved in efforts to alter this law and 80% of the executions will be cancelled if we succeed in passing this law in parliament. This can be important news,” Javad Larijani had said prior to this.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
December 16, 2016
