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

Seyed Reza Yazdizadeh

About

Nationality: Iran
Religion: Presumed Muslim
Civil Status: Unknown

Case

Date of Killing: March 1, 1989
Location of Killing: Kerman, Kerman Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Hanging
Charges: Drug trafficking; Drug possession

About this Case

The execution of Mr. Seyed Reza Yazdizadeh, son of Seyed Qasem, along with 49 other individuals who were executed in 15 different cities on one day for drug trafficking, was announced in the communiqué of the Center for Combating Narcotics and published in the Jomhuri Eslami newspaper on March 2, 1989.

Arrest and Detention

The circumstances of this defendant’s arrest and detention are not known.

Trial

No information is available on the defendant’s trial other than it took place in the Revolutionary Court of Kerman.

Charges

The charges against Mr. Yazdizadeh were announced as “continuous activities in the supply and distribution of narcotics, specifically more than 105 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 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, methadone, or morphine). The exact number of people convicted based on trumped-up charges is unknown.

Evidence of Guilt

According to the newspaper report, the defendant has been arrested for carrying 76 kilograms of extracted opium in 1982, but he escaped. At the time of his second arrest, he possessed 30 kilograms opium.

Defense

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

Judgment

The court condemned Mr. Seyed Reza Yazdizadeh to death and he was hanged in Kerman on March 1, 1989.

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