Man, deprived of fair due process executed on alleged rape charges
A man who had been sentenced to deaht three times on charges of rape was hanged today in Adelabad Prison of Shiraz.
The man, identified as 25-year-old Behzad Adl was transferred to solitary confinement along with three other death row prisoners to await his death sentence.
Behzad Adl was executed in the prison’s courtyard today after beeing convicted of rape, a charge that he had previously denied.
He was arrested on June 21, 2020, and received three death sentences and 99 lashes on rape charges.
His case was referred to the Supreme Court after he appealed the verdict and was approved in less than 18 days.
According to an informed source, “the death sentence of Behzad Adl was carried out very hastily while two of his three plaintiffs had withdrawn their complaint on Wednesday. The father of the 25-year-old died earlier and he did not have a lawyer in this case.”
The issuance, approval and implementation of this sentence has taken place in less than seven months.
According to the indictment of Branch 1 of Fars Province, which was issued on October 13, 2020, Behzad Adl had stated that he had confessed to the charges after being threatened with the murder of his mother during interrogation.
In Iran the death penalty is imposed for, among other things, murder, rape, armed robbery and drug trafficking.
In rape cases, executions are carried out particularly quickly.
The clerical regime has been the focus of international criticism for many years because of the many executions it carries out.
It executed at least 255 people in 2020, upholding its place as one of the world’s top executioners, with around 57 of these people killed for crimes other than murder, including political actions, drug offenses, sexual offenses, drinking alcohol, robbery, and the vague “waging war on God.”
Those executed included at least six juvenile offenders, eight women, and 12 political prisoners, including champion wrestler Navid Afkari.
Of course, given the secrecy of the regime, these figures were reported by human rights activists inside Iran who risked their lives. We can assume that all of the figures in this report are a minimum.
