Iran executes four Baloch prisoners including a woman

ZAHEDAN: The latest spike in executions, arrests and target killings of Baloch by Iran’s forces and intelligence department in Iranian-Occupied Balochistan continues.  

On Tuesday afternoon, 14 November 2023, Iran executed a Baloch woman who was sentenced to death on alleged drug-related charges.

The 46-year-old single mother Zarkhatoon Mazarzahi was hanged in Kerman Prison where she had been imprisoned since her arrest in September 2017 at the Qale Zangi checkpoint in Kirman province.

Ms Mazarzahi, She was a native resident of the Khash area of Sarawan, denied the charges and maintained in the court that she did not know anything about the said package.

She was the sole breadwinner for her impoverished family, which included a young daughter. 

The defendant was denied proper legal representation throughout the judicial proceedings and because of financial constraints, she could not afford to hire a private lawyer for herself to prepare a strong defence to prove her innocence.

Hence the first branch of Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced her to death.  

Baloch human rights activists accuse Iran of using capital punishment to spread fear among Baloch people and to deter the ongoing protests against state brutalities in Balochistan.

On Monday 13 November, the Iranian forces executed three Baloch political prisoners named 28-year-old Mohammad Brahui Anjumani son of Ali, 28-year-old Mohammad Karim Barakzaei and 31-year-old Idris Bilrani son of Mirza in Zahedan central prison.

The victims were residents of Zahedan and the so-called Chief Justice of Zahedan officially acknowledged the execution of the three men.

The trio were arrested in 2020 by the intelligence department of Iran and accused of “collaborating with anti-government groups and corruption on land”. They were sentenced to death and 15 years imprisonment each by the second branch of the Revolutionary Court in Zahedan.

Sources informed BalochWarna News that victims were in IRGC’s custody for at least two years before transferring to Zahedan jail. They were subjected to severe torture in the IRGC Intelligence  Detention Center and were coerced to confess.

Two more awarded hefty imprisonment and death sentence: A court in Iran has passed an online verdict against two Baloch youths on Sunday 14 November 2023.

 The victims have been named as 25-year-old Farshid Hasanzahi son of Hanif and 29-year-old Jamshid Hasanzahi son of Abdul Ghani were arrested during the peaceful protests and held incommunicado for nearly a year.   

They are residents of the Seyadak area of Zahedan, Balochistan.

The first branch of the Zahedan criminal court conducted the online hearing in the absence of the legal representatives of the prisoners and inmates received 25 years imprisonment each and death sentence.

It should be noted that these two youths were arrested along with another three men and were accused of “shooting at the vehicle of Cheshmeh Ziarat village police station” in Zahedan.

The police station was attacked by unknown persons who managed to escape after the incident.

The other three men Omid, Ismael and Behzad Hasanzahi were later released from Zahedan Central Prison.

Sources reported that Farshid and Jamshid were subjected to mental and physical torment during interrogation and coerced into confession.

They are confined in section nine of Zahedan Central Prison under strict and appalling conditions, their families are not allowed to see them.