Hassan Javanroudian Executed for Drug Charges in Karaj

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, at least one man was executed in Karaj Penitentiary on January 31. His identity has been established as Hassan Javanroudian who was sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

An informed source told Iran Human Rights: “Hassan Javanroudian was from Karaj, where he was arrested around two years ago.”

At the time of writing, none of their executions have been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

On January 27, Iran Human Rights warned of the high number of drug executions currently being carried out in Iran. Of the 55 executions in the first 26 days of 2023, 37 were for drug-related offences.

Drug executions dramatically dropped between 2018-2020 following the Amendment to the Anti-Drug Laws in 2017. However, this reversed in practice in 2021 when numbers increased by five-fold and have continued to rise throughout 2022 and 2023.