According to the registered statistics at the Center for Statistics and Documentation of Iran Human Rights Monitor (Iran HRM), the Iranian judiciary has carried out the execution sentences of 23 prisoners in Iranian prisons during the first half of September 2024 over a period of fifteen days.
On Monday, September 9, 2024, the judiciary executed 9 prisoners in one day, with six of them being hanged only in Zahedan Central Prison. On Wednesday, September 11, execution sentences for 5 prisoners were carried out in prisons located in Noshahr, Qazvin, Karaj, and Isfahan.
Among the executed individuals was Morteza Yousefi a graduate in physical education and a former champion of Iranian wrestling. He was also a wrestling coach. Previously, he had been arrested for drug-related crimes and sentenced to death by the Iranian judiciary. And He was hanged in Noshahr Central Prison on September 9th.
Similarly, out of the 23 prisoners executed on September 3 were Afghan nationals, meaning that 13% of the executed individuals were Afghan migrants. Their identities have been confirmed as Abdul Karim Habibi, Abdul Rahman Tajik, and Noor Mohammad Noorzahi, all of whom were executed on drug-related charges.
Among the executed individuals, 12 prisoners, or 52% of those executed, were inmates associated with drug-related charges. It is worth noting that Prisoners associated with drug offenses are often from the slums near cities and are considered to be from impoverished segments of society. They are sentenced to death through an unfair judicial process. While crimes related to drugs should never be subject to the death penalty according to international laws. However, the execution of prisoners involved in drug-related crimes has increased several-fold compared to the previous year.
