Abdorrahman Boroumand Center

for Human Rights in Iran

https://www.iranrights.org
Omid, a memorial in defense of human rights in Iran
One Person’s Story

Amir Hossein Abdolkhaleq

About

Age: 22
Nationality: Unknown
Religion: Presumed Muslim
Civil Status: Unknown

Case

Date of Killing: August 17, 2015
Location of Killing: Bandar Abbas, Hormozgan Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Hanging
Charges: Drug trafficking
Age at time of alleged offense: 17

About this Case

News of the execution of Mr. Amir Hossein Abdolkhaleq, son of Haj Mohammad Khan, along with nine others not named, was published on the website of the Hormozgan General Courthouse, quoting the Public Relations Office of the Hormozgan General Courthouse, and on the website of HRANA (Human Rights Activists News Agency) with full names on August 17, 2015. According to HRANA, Mr. Abdolkhaleq was 17 years old when arrested.

International laws have strictly prohibited capital punishment against those who were under the age of 18 at the time of committing the crime. As a party to the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Iran has the obligation to avoid capital punishment for an offence committed before the age of eighteen.

Arrest and detention

According to HRANA, Mr. Abdolkhaleq was detained for five years; however, the circumstances of his arrest and detention are not known.

Trial

According to the website of the Hormozgan General Courthouse, Branch Two of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Bandar-e Abbas tried Mr. Abdolkhaleq. However, no information is available on his trial.

Charges

According to the Public Relations Office of the Hormozgan General Courthouse, the charge brought against Mr. Abdolkhaleq was announced as “drug trafficking.”   

The validity of the criminal charges brought against this defendant cannot be ascertained in the absence of the basic guarantees of a fair trial. International human rights organizations have drawn attention to reports indicating that Islamic Republic authorities have brought trumped-up charges against their political opponents and executed them for alleged drug trafficking, sexual, and other criminal offences. Thousands of alleged drug traffickers have been sentenced to death following judicial processes that fail to meet international standards. Scores of them were executed based on a 1989 law imposing mandatory death sentences on drug traffickers found in possession of specified amounts of proscribed narcotics (5 kg of hashish or opium, and more than 30 grams of heroin, codeine or methadone). The exact number of people convicted based on trumped-up charges is unknown.

Evidence of guilt

The report of this execution did not provide any specific information on the evidence presented against Mr. Abdolkhaleq. However, according to the Public Relations Office of the Hormozgan General Courthouse, these ten executed drug traffickers in Minab and Bandar-e Abbas had been charged with possession, transportation, and selling over 398 kilograms of narcotics including 70 kilograms of heroin, 200 kilograms of opium, 105 kilograms of crack, 4 kilograms of hashish, and 19 grams of morphine across the Hormozgan Province and the neighboring provinces.

Defense

No information is available on Mr. Abdolkhaleq’s defense.

Judgment

Branch Two of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Bandar-e Abbas condemned Mr. Amir Hossein Abdolkhaleq to death. After the General Public Prosecutor confirmed the ruling, it was carried out on Monday August 17, 2015 and Mr. Abdolkhaleq was hanged, along with five others, at the Bandar-e Abbas Central Prison yard at six a. m. 

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