Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); July 25, 2024: Hamed Naderi and Ali Moharamkhani, two co-defendants on death row for drug-related charges, were executed in Qazvin Central Prison.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Qazvin (Choobindar) Central Prison on 25 July. Their identities have been established as 32-year-old Hamed Naderi and 37-year-old Ali Moharamkhani from Abhar. Ali was a father of two children.
They were arrested two years ago and sentenced to death for drug-related charges in a joint case by the Revolutionary Court.
At the time of writing, their execution have not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.
Drug-related executions have continuously risen every year since 2021. According to IHRNGO’s 2023 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 471 people were executed for drug-related charges, an 84% increase compared to 2022 (256) and about 18 times the average of drug-related executions in 2018-2020. In the first six months of 2024, at least 147 people were executed for the charges.
On 10 April 2024, 80+ Iranian and international organisations and groups called for joint action to stop drug-related executions, urging UNODC to make “any cooperation with the Islamic Republic contingent on a complete halt on drug-related executions.”