Over 5000 Prisoners Await Approval of 'Death Penalty Mitigation'

The spokesperson for the Judicial Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly stated that if the death penalty mitigation plan is approved, over 90% of prisoners sentenced to death will be saved from this sentence. Hassan Norouzi said in an interview with ILNA news agency on Tuesday, August 1, regarding the latest status of the amendment to the anti-drug law in Parliament: 'With the amendment to the anti-drug law, more than five thousand prisoners will be saved from execution and their sentences will change to 20 to 30 years in prison.' He previously mentioned that about 90% of the five thousand individuals who have committed drug trafficking for the first time are 'between 20 and 30 years old.' According to Hassan Norouzi, if the prisoners behave appropriately in society and reintegrate into the community, their long-term prison sentences may also be subject to pardon. The spokesperson for the Judicial Commission added that the amendment to the anti-drug law includes convicts who 'have no criminal record or have carried less than 100 kilograms of opium.' The review of this plan has been halted due to the Parliament's recess, but it is expected to be completed by next week, and if approved by the Guardian Council, it will soon be implemented. The Iranian Parliament approved the generalities of the bill to add a clause to the anti-drug law with 182 votes in favor, 36 against, and 6 abstentions on July 16. Hassan Norouzi also stated that during the review of this plan, the execution of individuals sentenced to death was also halted. Previously, Yahya Kamali Pour, the deputy chairman of the Judicial Commission, had told Shargh newspaper that members of this commission had requested the judiciary to suspend the execution of some drug trafficking suspects until the approval of the amendment to the punishment for these crimes. Hassan Norouzi's statements come as Amnesty International and the Boroumand Foundation recently issued a joint statement criticizing the changes in the plan to convert the death penalty for drug traffickers and called on Parliament members to reconsider this plan. These two organizations have called for the complete abolition of the death penalty for drug offenders. In their statement, Amnesty International and the Boroumand Foundation cited Iranian officials, stating that the number of executed drug offenders since 1988 has been nearly 10,000. According to the current law, the manufacture, distribution, sale, or importation of more than 5 kilograms of hashish, marijuana, opium, opium extract, or more than 30 grams of heroin, morphine, cocaine, and other chemical derivatives of morphine and cocaine carries the death penalty. However, in the proposed new law, the death penalty is considered for the production and distribution of 50 kilograms of traditional drugs and 2 kilograms of industrial drugs.