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

Mohsen (Mohammad) Ra'isi

About

Age: 18
Nationality: Iran
Religion: Presumed Muslim
Civil Status: Unknown

Case

Date of Killing: March 2, 2014
Location of Killing: Bandar Abbas, Hormozgan Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Hanging
Charges: Drug trafficking
Age at time of alleged offense: 15

About this Case

News of the execution of Mr. Mohsen (Mohammad) Ra’isi, along with three others, was published on the website of the Hormozgan Provincial Courthouse, quoting the Public Relations Office of the Hormozgan Courthouse, and IRNA (Islamic Republic News Agency) on March 2, 2014, the Campaign in Defense of Civil and Political Prisoners on March 9, 2014, along with 11 others, and HRANA (Human Rights Activists News Agency) on September 21, 2015, along with 12 others. Mr. Ra’isi was only 15 when the crime took place. (HRANA)

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 the Public Relations Office of the Hormozgan Courthouse, Mr. Ra’isi and several others were passing through a secret passage from Qal’eh Ganj to Rudan when ambushed by official agents. After a clash with agents, two of them were killed and the rest were arrested (Hormozgan Courthouse). Mr. Ra’isi was detained for 3 years. (HRANA) The circumstances of his arrest and detention are not known.

Trial

The Islamic Revolutionary Court of Rudan tried Mr. Ra’isi. No information is available on his trial.

Charges

The charge brought against Mr. Ra’isi was announced as “armed transportation of 966 kilograms of opium.”    

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 the Islamic Republic authorities have brought trumped-up charges, including drug trafficking, sexual, and other criminal offences, against their opponents (including political, civil society activists, as well as unionists and ethnic and religious minorities). 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. Ra’isi.

Defense

Mr. Ra’isi was under 18 when the crime took place (HRANA). No information is available on his defense.

Judgment

The Islamic Revolutionary Court of Rudan condemned Mr. Mohsen (Mohammad) Ra’isi to death. The General Public Prosecutor signed the ruling, and he was hanged, along with three others, in Bandar-e Abbas Prison on March 2, 2014. 

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