IRAN CONDITIONS DEATH PENALTY FOR DRUG OFFENSES

March 12, 2017:

Capital punishment will be removed for all drug-related offenses with the exception of 3 cases, vice-chairman of Parliament’s Judiciary Committee told MNA.
MP Yahya Kamalipour told MNA that the judiciary needs to report to the Parliament the figures related to those sentenced to death and the severity of their crimes, after which the Parliament would be able to make the necessary decisions on revising the bill on capital punishment.
“At the moment, it is reported that those carrying methamphetamine, crack cocaine and derivatives of heroin up to one kilogram will be sentenced to death, but one should note that this will increase the number of offenders on the death row,” he added.
Noting that 80 per cent of inmates currently imprisoned on drug-related charges have carried over one kilogram of drugs, he said “it was decided that the judiciary should announce the accurate figures of drug offenders sentenced to death and the amount of drugs they had been carrying at the time so that we would know how many offenders would be charged with capital punishment based on this.”
“In the main clause of the revision plan, it is noted that capital punishment for drug offenses will be removed with the exception of 3 cases,” he said. “For example, if the offenders have been armed while carrying drugs, or if they had been imprisoned for more than ten years, or if the case is related to organized crime, they will get the death penalty.”
According to Javad Larijani, the secretary general of Iranian High Council for Human Rights, 90 per cent of the executions carried out in Iran are related to drug-trafficking crimes; therefore, a revision of the existing laws would dramatically decrease the number of executions in the country.