Executions of Nigerian and Ghanaian Citizens in Mashad’s Vakilabad Prison

Following the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran’s recent reports about the secret executions of death-row prisoners inside Mashad’s Vakilabad Prison, reliable sources told the Campaign that two of the inmates who were recently executed were citizens of Ghana and Nigeria. According to local sources, the two men were charged with attempting to transport two kilograms of heroin while leaving the country. Sources told the Campaign that the two individuals were Paul Chindo from Nigeria and Aquasi Aquabe from Ghana. Aquabe was executed on 18 August 2010 and Chindo on 26 October 2010. Local sources alleged that the “executions were carried out without informing the related embassies or presence of staff from the two embassies, lawyers, or families of the convicts. The two individuals did not know Persian, so the ruling was not read to them and even when the sentence was signed and confirmed, no translators were recruited to communicate with the suspects to inform them of their sentences.” “Even during their trials, these convicts were deprived of this basic right and neither one of them were aware of their sentence and both of them were deprived from having lawyers (whether selected or court-appointed).  They were even deprived from freely contacting their embassies in Iran for discussing their issues,” the source told the Campaign. So far, Islamic Republic authorities have not published any news about the executions of foreign citizens charged with drug-related crimes. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran asks the Iranian Judiciary again to be accountable to public opinion about the weekly executions of prisoners inside Mashad’s Vakilabad Prison and questions raised regarding the suspects’ lack of access to a fair trial process. “While they were alive, they were only allowed to contact their families by telephone once a month,” the said sources told the Campaign.