According to data from the Center for Statistics and Documentation of Iran Human Rights Monitor (Iran HRM), the Iranian judiciary has executed 23 prisoners across various prisons during the first 15 days of September 2024.
On Monday, September 9, 2024, nine prisoners were executed in a single day, with six of them hanged in Zahedan Central Prison. On Wednesday, September 11, five more prisoners were executed in prisons located in Noshahr, Qazvin, Karaj, and Isfahan.
Among the executed was Morteza Yousefi, a former Iranian wrestling champion and coach, who had been sentenced to death for drug-related offenses. He was executed in Noshahr Central Prison on September 9.
Additionally, three of the 23 prisoners executed were Afghan nationals: Abdul Karim Habibi, Abdul Rahman Tajik, and Noor Mohammad Noorzahi. All three were hanged on drug-related charges, making Afghan migrants account for 13% of the total executions.
A staggering 52% of the prisoners, 12 in total, were executed on drug-related charges. Many of these individuals came from impoverished areas near urban slums and faced an unfair judicial process. While international laws prohibit the death penalty for drug-related offenses, the number of such executions has significantly increased compared to the previous year.