About Half of Prisoners in Tehran Province Have Drug-Related Crimes

The head of Iran's Prison Organization and Correctional Measures, Ali-Asghar Jahangir, stated that 15% of Iran's prison population is held in Tehran's prisons. He also discussed the composition of crimes among prisoners in Tehran, revealing that 42% are incarcerated for drug-related offenses. According to the state news agency IRNA, Jahangir announced these statistics on Wednesday, September 1, at the 'Scientific-Applied Conference on Prisons and Reducing Inmate Population.' Jahangir noted that Tehran currently has 9 centers, including seven prisons, one vocational training camp, and one rehabilitation center, which together hold 15% of the country's prisoners. He also mentioned that the average number of convicted individuals in Tehran is 20 lower than the national average. Furthermore, Jahangir indicated that over 30% of prisoners in Tehran are incarcerated for theft and robbery of others' property. He also reported that there are about 2% of cases related to crimes against public morals in Tehran, while the national average is around 5%. Currently, 5,793 individuals in Tehran's prisons are held under a six-month 'detention order,' with indictments issued for 63% of them. A 'detention order' is a judicial decision made by a judicial authority during preliminary investigations and, in exceptional cases, during trial proceedings. According to some reports, thousands of individuals in Iran are currently imprisoned under 'detention orders,' and their legal status has remained unresolved for a long time. The prison population in Iran has seen unprecedented growth in recent years, prompting judicial authorities to adopt policies and programs aimed at reducing the inmate population in various prisons across Iran. Jahangir previously stated that from 1985 to 2016, the number of prisoners in Iran increased by approximately 333%, with 64% of prisoners currently being married. He mentioned that Iran ranks second among Islamic countries and sixth among Asian countries in terms of prison population. He also stated that Iran ranks 41st in the world, with a prison population of 283 per 100,000 people, compared to 174 in Asia and 168 globally. For example, the official statistics show that in Denmark, the figure is 61, in the United States nearly 700, in Japan 49, in South Africa 292, in Switzerland 84, and in Malaysia 161 per 100,000 people.