Naghi Zayerfar Executed for Drug Charges in Maragheh

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Maragheh Prison on 2 January. His identity has been established as Naghi Zayerfar who was sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

An informed source told Iran Human Rights: “Naghi Zayerfar was a taxi driver between Maragheh and Miandoab prior to his arrest around three years ago. His brother was also executed for drug charges in Ahar Prison in May.”

At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

On 21 December, IHRNGO warned of more drug executions being carried out after an Iranian MP from Lorestan province stated that the cases of 1000-2000 drug death row inmates were at implementation stage.

The number of drug executions dramatically dropped in 2018 following a 2017 Amendment to the Anti-Narcotics Laws. Consequently, drug 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. On 13 September 2023, IHRNGO reported a 94% rise in the number of drug-related executions in the year following the start of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement in September 2022.