Iran begins 2024 executing 5 people

The Iranian judiciary announced that five people convicted of "armed robbery and banditry" were executed.

Mizan Online, a website affiliated with the judiciary, announced that Iranian authorities executed five people convicted of "armed robbery and banditry" on Monday.

It was claimed that these people were found guilty of 14 crimes, including "spreading terror among the public" and organized "gang robbery" and "armed robbery and banditry".

Without specifying the dates of the incidents, Mizan argued that the group specialized in animal and rebar theft, especially in the Alborz province west of Tehran.

"The death sentences given to five convicts were executed this morning," said Hussein Fazeli-Harikandi, President of the Supreme Court of Alborz province.

According to various NGOs, including Amnesty International, Iran is the country where the highest number of death sentences are executed after China.

According to the Norway-based Iranian Human Rights Organization (IHR), more than 700 people were executed in Iran as of the end of November 2023. This represents the highest figure in the last eight years.