A prisoner accused of murder executed in Sanandaj Central Prison

Human Rights in Iran – Monday, August 10, 2020 / The death sentence of a prisoner accused of premeditated murder was carried out in Sanandaj Central Prison.

According to Human Rights in Iran, the death sentence of Keyvan Rezagholi, born in 1977, single, resident of Sanandaj and charged with premeditated murder, whose death penalty was previously upheld by the Supreme Court, was carried out this morning, Monday, August 10, 2020 in the Central Prison of Sanandaj (Kurdistan Province).

Keyvan Rezagholi was arrested by Law Enforcement officers in 2016 on charges of murdering a friend. After the interrogation and trial, he was sentenced to death by a court on charges of premeditated murder, and his death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court.

According to the annual report by Amnesty International in 2019, the Iranian government executed at least 251 people. At least 4 of those executed were under the age of 18 at the time of 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 figures.

According to international instruments of human rights, as well as Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR): “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

Based on the statistics published by human rights organizations, Iran is one of the countries with the highest per capita executions, and in the world rankings, Iran has the highest number of annual executions after China.

On February 18, 2020, Amnesty International released a report interpreting human rights abuses in Iran, stating in a part of the report on the issuance and execution of death sentences: The death penalty continues to be used for acts permitted by international human rights law, including sexual intercourse with consensual homosexuals and sexual intercourse outside of marriage. The death sentence also continues for crimes such as insulting the Prophet of Islam, muharebeh (waiging war against God), and corruption on earth, which have very vague definitions.