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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Execution Fever at Rajaei Shahr Prison |
| 2016-08-28 |
| On August 9, political prisoner Mohammad Abdollahi and five others were hanged in the West Azarbaijan capital of Urmia — the latest in a series of executions taking place on Ward 10 of Rajaei Shahr Prison in Karaj near Tehran. On August 2, it was reported that at least 10 alleged Salafists had been executed at the prison. On August 3, Iran’s Intelligence Ministry implicitly confirmed the news through a statement that listed the prisoners’ crimes and terrorist acts, though it stopped short of naming the people executed. According to the statements, the prisoners were members of the militant Salafist group Tawhid and Jihad. Some of those who faced execution at Ward 10 had been in the middle of their appeals process. According the Islamic Republic’s own laws, carrying out a sentence before an appeals court verdict is reached is illegal. Executions have been taking place in other Iranian cities too. Three people were executed in Gilan’s provincial capital Rasht, one for murder and two for carrying 15 kilos of drugs. Four people were executed in Taybad in the northwestern province of Razavi Khorasan and in Salmas and Khoy in West Azarbaijan, three in Saghez in Iranian Kurdistan and two in Qazvin. Although alarming, the high numbers of executions are not without precedent. Iran routinely comes second to China in rankings for the total number of people executed, though not when it comes to per capita figures. For example, from December 20, 2010 to January 19, 2011, more than 97 people were executed in Iran. Mohsen, an inmate at Ward 4, said that at Rajaei Shahr, the smell of death is everywhere. “After we heard the footsteps of soldiers marching up it took them about half an hour to come back,” he said. “I was watching through the peephole. They had taped over their mouths so they could not shout ‘God is great!’ Sometimes when they take the inmates from solitary confinement to hang, the prisoners start shouting that. Guards did not want other prisoners to hear them.” For the remaining prisoners at Rajaei Shahr, the next day was difficult to endure. The soldiers had terrified them. They had entered the ward fully equipped with helmets, batons, Tasers and masks, making a lot of noise. For the inmates, the silence in the adjoining wards was as deep as the sound of soldiers’ boots was loud. “They were not there only for executions,” Mohsen said. “They wanted to intimidate us too. It was a show of force to make us believe that they could crush us any moment that they wished.” I asked Mohsen about how ordinary prisoners had reacted to the executions. “My cellmates and I talked about it,” he told me. “They say that ISIS is losing the war in Iraq and Syria and the Islamic Republic is afraid that Iran might turn into a safe corridor for ISIS members. So they are sending a forceful message to ISIS with these executions.” But, he added, “everybody here is silent and sad — especially Baha’i prisoners who are more sensitive to executions.” |
| Posted by:Pappy |