Three men were executed at Ghezel Hesar Prison in the Iranian city of Karaj near the country's capital, Tehran.
According to a report by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights based in Iran, on Saturday morning, the three prisoners, Saeed Garavand, Samad Garavand, and Shahab Mansourinesb Garavand, residents of the city of Kuhdasht in the Lorestan Province of Iran, were hanged at Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj. Following the execution, Hussein Garavand, Shahab's brother, was returned to his cell.
According to Hengaw Organization, the three prisoners were given death sentences several years ago for their alleged involvement in drug trafficking charges outlined by the Islamic Republic's judicial authorities. Before Saturday’s execution, the three individuals were transferred to solitary cells.
When family members, friends, and human rights groups learned about their transfer to solitary confinement, many gathered outside Ghezel Hesar Prison to protest the death penalty against the detained individuals, according to Hengaw.
On Twitter, Iran International published a video of the wife of one of the three detained prisoners, Saeed Gravand, in front of Ghezel Hesar Prison, announcing that her husband would be executed.
Tensions escalated when Islamic Republic security forces intervened, using tear gas and batons, leading to a bloody and violent dispersal of protesters. Reports indicate that 10 individuals, including women, obtained critical head, face, limb, and abdomen injuries.
In addition to the death of the three individuals on Sunday, Hengaw also said that another individual, Asef Shahbakhsh, was hanged in Zahedan prison in Southeast Iran on the same day along with alleged human trafficker Shahrooz Sokhanvari.
The American-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said Wednesday that Sokhanvari had been transferred to Rajaeeshahr prison in Karaj for the execution as several other prisoners were transferred to solitary cells in the Ghezel Hesar Prison for execution.
The latest executions in Iran mean that the Islamic regime has killed five prisoners in one day alone.
Following months of unrest last year over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini at the hands of the regime's morality police, officials in the Islamic government warned that the judiciary would issue the death penalty to those arrested. Since September, regime authorities have kept their promises by killing protesters on false charges of working for foreign countries like the United States, Israel, and Europe.
