Mohammad Doustinejad Executed for Drug Charges in Hamedan

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Hamedan Central Prison on March 1. His identity has been established as 29-year-old Mohammad Doustinejad from Hersin. He was sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

According to Hengaw which first reported his execution, prison officials contacted his family on February 28 and falsely told her he was due to be released. It seems it was an attempt to stop his family from protesting outside the prison.

At the time of writing, his execution has not 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 66 executions carried out in January, at least 43 (65%) people were executed for drug-related charges, none of which were officially announced.

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.