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Communist Vietnam's secret death penalty conveyor belt: How country trails only China and Iran for 'astonishing' number of executions

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Prisoners are dragged from their cells at 4am without warning to be given a lethal injection Vietnam's use of the death penalty has been thrust into the spotlight after a real estate tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to be executed in one of the biggest corruption cases in the country's history. Truong My Lan, a businesswoman who chaired a sprawling company that developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping malls, was arrested in 2022.

Mass Execution: 17 Prisoners Hanged at Vakilabad Prison, Iran

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Mashhad's Vakilabad Prison, Iran
Mashhad's Vakilabad Prison, Iran
Iran Human Rights has discovered that Iranian authorities executed 17 prisoners at Vakilabad Prison about two weeks ago on drug related charges.

Iran Human Rights (SEPT 27 2016): 17 prisoners sentenced to death on drug related charges were reportedly hanged at Mashhad's Vakilabad Prison (Razavi Khorasan province, northwestern Iran) on Sunday September 11, 2016.

"There are currently about 400 prisoners in Vakilabad Prison who are on death row for drug related offenses, and their execution sentences have been confirmed," a close source tells Iran Human Rights.

Close sources say these 400 prisoners are all relatively new individuals who were arrested by Iranian authorities within the last two or three years. 

The hundreds of other death row prisoners who were detained in Vakilabad prior to this have reportedly been executed. Iran Human Rights (IHR) has previously reported about the secret executions of several hundred prisoners in the Vakilabad prison.

Iranian official sources, including the Judiciary and the media, have been silent about these 17 executions. 

In 2015, 61% of the executions carried out in Iran (approximately 596 executions) were not reported by Iranian official sources.

Source: Iran Human Rights, September 27, 2016

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Location: Mashhad, Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran
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