Hemin Mostafaei from the Kurdish city of Marivan in Iran’s western region (Rojhelat) was arrested in March 2013 for the alleged murder of an IRGC member. He was sentenced to death for “premeditated murder” after his confession was broadcasted on Iran’s state-owned Press TV.
Sources close to Mostafaei’s family claim that the inmate had buckled under the intense physical and psychological torture he was being subjected to and was left with no choice but to take responsibility for the murder, according to human right monitors in Rojhelat.
The death row inmate was transferred to solitary confinement at the Sanandaj central prison on Monday in preparation for his execution. His family members and rights activists gathered in front of the prison to try to cancel the execution but to no avail.
Iran executed at least 576 people last year, a significant increase from 314 in 2021, making it the country with the second highest rate of known executions during 2022, according to the annual report from Amnesty International.
This year, after last fall's widespread demonstrations and a crackdown on the drug trade, Iran has carried out an alarming number of executions. Amnesty estimated at least 282 people were executed during the first five months of 2023.
Most of those who are executed in Iran are convicted based on confessions that are condemned by rights groups who say they are often obtained under duress.
