Thursday, September 17, 2015
Iran: Schoolteacher due to be executed at dawn
The Iranian authorities must
immediately halt the execution of Mahmoud Barati, a teacher who was convicted
of drug-related offences following an unfair trial that is believed to have
included a confession obtained through torture and other ill-treatment, Amnesty
International said.
According to contacts in Ghezel Hesar prison, Mahmoud
Barati has been transferred to solitary confinement and is scheduled to be
executed at dawn tomorrow morning (8 September 2015).
“Mahmoud Barati’s execution must immediately be halted.
International law does not allow for the use of death penalty for drug-related
offences. The Iranian authorities must immediately quash his death sentence,”
said Audrey Gaughran, Director of Global Issues at Amnesty International.
“The Iranian authorities must end their unprecedented
killing spree – more than 700 people have been executed so far this year, most
of them convicted on drug-related charges.”
Audrey Gaughran, Director of Global
Issues at Amnesty International
According to a contact in Ghezel Hesar prison, following
his arrest 10 years ago, Mahmoud Barati was held in a detention centre of the
Office to Combat Drug Offences for 10 days where he was allegedly subjected to
torture and other ill-treatment to “confess”. He subsequently made statements
to both the prosecutor and the court retracting these “confessions”.
The prison contact also raised concerns that the principal
witness against Mahmoud Barati may have retracted his testimony.
Iran’s Anti-Narcotics Law provides mandatory death sentences
for a range of drug-related offences, including trafficking more than 5kg of
narcotics derived from opium or more than 30g of heroin, morphine, cocaine or
their chemical derivatives.
This is in direct breach of international law, which
restricts the use of the death penalty to only the “most serious crimes” –
those involving intentional killing. Drug-related offences do not meet this
threshold.
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