Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); November 25, 2024: Meisam Nouri, a Kurdish man, and Arsalan Habibi were executed for drug-related offences in Hamedan Central Prison. Another man’s execution was reported at the prison that day, raising the total number to two.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Hamedan Central Prison on 21 November. Their identities have been established as Meisam Nouri, a 42-year-old Kurdish man from Qorveh (photo) and and Arsalan Habibi from Khomein who were sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Courts in separate cases.
An informed source told IHRNGO: “Meisam was arrested three years ago. He had been shot and injured by security forces during his arrest and was transferred to Hamedan Prison after recovering. Arsalan was arrested on the Arak-Qom motorway three years ago.”
IHRNGO previously reported the execution of Amirhossein Rostami Pataghi, which brings the total number of executions at the prison to three that day.
At the time of writing, none of their executions have 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.”