Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – Hassan Choopani, Abdollah Hassanzadeh Yangajeh and Hassan Arabi Anabi were executed for drug-related charges in Urmia Central Prison.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, three Kurdish men were executed in Urmia Central Prison on 9 May. Their identities have been established as 35-year-old Hassan Choopani, Abdollah Hassanzadeh Yangajeh and Hassan Arabi Anabi. They were sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.
Hassan was on death row for four years, Abdollah for five years and Hassan Arabi for six years.
At the time of writing, their executions 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.
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.”