Three Drug Death Row Inmates Transferred for Execution in Karaj

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, at least three men were transferred to solitary confinement on 4 July in preparation for their executions in Karaj Penitentiary. The three unidentified men were sentenced to death for drug-related charges in the same case.

Their executions are scheduled to take place in the next coming days.

Drug-related executions have continuously risen every year for the past three years. 206 people were executed for drug-related charges in the first six months of 2023, a 126% rise compared to the same period in 2022 when 91 were executed. 40 people were executed in the same period in 2021.

The number of drug executions dramatically dropped in 2018 following a 2017 Amendment to the Anti-Narcotics Laws. Consequently, drug-related executions ranged between 24-30 per annum between 2018-2020. The Amendment was reversed in practice in 2021 when executions increased ten-fold to 126 in 2021 and doubled again in 2022 with 256 drug-related executions.