IRAN: TWO PRISONERS HANGED FOR ‘CORRUPTION ON EARTH’

May 6, 2020: According to the Iranian Khorasan daily on 28 April 2020 two prisoners were executed at Mashhad central prison (also known as Vakilabad prison). The two unnamed men were supposed to be hanged in public but according to the report, they have been hanged in prison due to the Coronavirus epidemic. They were charged with “corruption on earth” for “kidnapping and abusing women”. The report says two other co-defendants in the same case were hanged on 26 April 2018, in public. However, these 2018 executions are not reported by the NGO databases. Due to their vague definition, the charges of moharebeh (waging war against God) and “Ifsad fel Arz” or “Corruption on Earth” are used for a wide range of offences.  (Source: IHR, 04/05/2020)