A defendant in Tehran was recently sentenced, in absentia, to death after being charged with murder.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, quoting Rokna, the case’s other defendants were sentenced to other punishments, including prison time and lashes.
According to this report, a man named Reza, who is not currently in Iran, was sentenced to death in absentia for committing murder and to 10 years in prison and 74 lashes for other crimes he committed.
The second person who was involved in the conflict was sentenced to pay a ransom, a fine to the government, and 55 months in prison and lashes for injuring the victim’s father.
A third person was sentenced to 20 months in prison and lashes for disturbing public order and committing other crimes, and the other individuals involved in the bloody conflict were sentenced to one year in prison and 74 lashes for disturbing public order.
Iran ranks first in the world in citizen executions per capita, according to international organizations. The Statistics and Publication Center of the Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRA) reported that between January 1 and December 20 of 2020, at least 236 citizens were executed.
One of these citizens was executed publicly, and two were juvenile offenders. An additional 95 citizens were sentenced to death. According to the same report, more than 72% of executions in Iran are not reported by the government or the judiciary, which human rights organizations call “secret” executions.
Iran is one of the few countries that has continued to use humiliating punishments despite the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights explicit prohibition of the use of inhumane and degrading punishments, including the death penalty and flogging.
