Iran Human Rights (AUG 6 2017): Two prisoners were reportedly hanged at Urmia's central prison on drug related charges at the same time that a bill to reform the death penalty for drug charges is in the process of being approved by the Iranian Parliament.
Close sources say the executions were carried out on the morning of Saturday August 5 and the prisoners are: Saeed Pourhormoz, 38 years of age, and Hossein Shahi. "Saeed Pourhormoz was sentenced to death on the charge of two kilograms of heroin, even though he had no previous conviction. Hossein Shahi was sentenced to death on the charge of 0.5 kilograms amd several grams of heroin," an informed source tells Iran Human Rights.
Iranian official sources, including the judiciary and the state-run media, have not announced these two executions.
The execution of prisoners with drug charges continues in Iran while the Iranian Parliament has approved a general plan to amend the law for combating drugs. The Parliament is scheduled to vote on the bill again in the coming days. In the event the bill receives final approval, the death sentences for many prisoners with drug charges will be commuted to a prison sentence.
"Had the Iranian authorities waited for the bill to pass, then the death sentences for many of those executed for drug offences would have been commuted to prison terms," said Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson for Iran Human Rights, recently. "It is incomprehensible why the Iranian authorities, who have admitted that the death penalty doesn't reduce drug crimes, can't stop drug-related executions for just a few months."