Prisoner Executed in Maku Prison

HRANA  – At dawn yesterday, the death sentence of a prisoner who had previously been sentenced to death on a murder charge was carried out in Maku Prison.

According to HRANA, citing Kurdpa, on August 23, 2026, a prisoner was executed in Maku Prison, West Azerbaijan province.

His identity has been reported as Ardalan Sabzi Balkhkanlou, 38, who was married and the father of a young child.

According to the report, Ardalan Sabzi was arrested approximately four years ago on a charge of murder and subsequently sentenced to death.

As of the time of this report, the prisoner’s execution has not been officially announced by prison authorities or other relevant institutions.

According to HRA’s Annual Report, in 2025 at least 2,063 citizens, including 61 women and 2 juvenile offenders, were executed. Of these, the sentences of 11 individuals were carried out in public. During the same period, 172 other individuals were sentenced to death.

Three Inmate Executed in Qazvin and Maku

On Monday, December 12, 2022, Qazvin prison officials carried out the execution of two inmates convicted of drug-related crimes. Also, an inmate convicted of murder was executed on December 8 in Maku, West Azerbaijan Province.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, on December 8, an inmate identified by HRANA as Shayan Hassanpour (Hassanzadeh), age 23-24, was executed in Maku Prison.

Iran Human Rights Organization also reported that on December 12, two inmates, identified as Abbas Hosseini and Ali Seyyedkhani, were executed in Qazvin Prison.

These individuals, reportedly, were arrested and sentenced to death three years ago. They were executed despite the court’s promise that their execution would not be carried out.

None of the official sources and media outlets inside the country has reported these executions at the time of writing.

 

Several Individuals Arrested in Maku County

In Maku, West Azerbaijan Province, the Ministry of Intelligence summoned and arrested several individuals following a protest against government negligence to revive the Urmia Lake, which has been completely dried up.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, in recent days, several individuals were arrested by the Ministry of Intelligence due to their environmental activism for Urmia Lake.

HRANA has identified one of these individuals as Aydin Jafari, age 19, whose condition and whereabouts are unknown so far.

On September 11, 2022, several Maku residents and environmentalists staged a protest to demand actions to rescue Urmia Lake.

The charges against these individuals are still unknown.